one lonely horn

Some decisions...

2008-08-22T19:21:00.003Z

... for no good reason other than prejudice can influence how you view a performer. And as we all know prejudices can be hard to shift. So my negative reaction to Teddy Thompson cancelling his forthcoming local show was not solely based upon disappointment but more for the reason behind it. To give up singing to his faithful band of followers he has chosen to accept the opportunity (as he will see it) to be the warm up act on the James Blunt tour.
On the plus side for Teddy I estimate this will increase his nightly audience by an estimated thirty times but on the down side it has lost him my loyalty as a fan who has shelled out on numerous occasions to see him. Hell, I’ve even payed out to watch him as the support act. But not on this occasion. Turning your back on the faithful is bad enough but to support James Bland calls into question his musical integrity.
Now if he were doing the Leonard Cohen tour, and an opportunity to learn at the feet of the master, that would be an altogether different matter.

Beyond this personal gripe it has got me thinking of how many support acts I have seen over the last thirty five years who have sufficiently inspired me to make me watch out for their name in the following months and years. Precious few is the answer with only Lynyrd Skynyrd (Golden Earring), Tymon Dogg (Alan Price) and The Pixies (Throwing Muses) coming readily to mind.

So will hoardes of Mr Bland’s fans make it hard for me to get a ticket the next time Teddy comes to town? I think not. Will I be there? Putting prejudice aside, probably. But I may have to have a drink first, for as the man says ‘an altered state makes me love everything I hate’.

MP3 Teddy Thompson – Altered State

Concentrate On Irate Hats

2008-08-19T13:29:00.002Z

Slapp Happy were an Anglo/German/American trio who, not to put too fine a point on it, were as mad as a box of frogs. Henry Cow were a product of Cambridge University, had a style described as 'neo-Hiroshima' and, as Wikipedia succinctly and accurately puts it, an 'inherent anti-commercial bias'. I think you get the picture. The name of the person who thought that it would be a jolly good idea for the two bands to combine is lost to history but combine they did and Desperate Straights is one of two albums they made together.

Back in the day, the two Reverend Doctors would gather around the phonograph in the Old Vicarage and try and make sense of what was going on. I am not sure we ever did or whether we were ever meant to but it was fun trying.

The sound is built around the unusual vocal stylings of Dagmar Krause. Her husky alto is not to everyone's taste but is undeniably original. She is unlikely to win X Factor and the world is a poorer place for it. Slapp Happy also featured Peter Blegvad who wrote a song that will shortly feature in the Good Reverend's Hymnal. Watch this space.

Slapp Happy/Henry Cow
Desperate Straights

1."Some Questions about Hats" (Moore, Blegvad) – 1:49
2."The Owl" (Moore) – 2:14
3."A Worm is at Work" (Moore, Blegvad) – 1:52
4."Bad Alchemy" (Greaves, Blegvad) – 3:06
5."Europa" (Moore, Blegvad) – 2:48
6."Desperate Straights" (Moore) – 4:14
7."Riding Tigers" (Blegvad) – 1:43
8."Apes in Capes" (Moore) – 2:14
9. "Strayed" (Blegvad) – 1:53
10."Giants" (Moore, Blegvad) – 1:57
11."Excerpt from The Messiah" (Handel, Blegvad) – 1:48
12."In the Sickbay" (Krause, Blegvad) – 2:08
13."Caucasian Lullaby" (Cutler, Moore) – 8:20

Click here to go to the file

The Good Reverend's Hymnal - #8 When My Baby's Beside Me - Big Star

2008-04-03T16:03:00.004Z

'I never travel far, without a little Big Star' as someone once said. I was, however, a little late starting the journey. I remember unsuccessfully trying to buy #1 Record in one of Virgin's early shops in Leeds. Ardent's distribution problems were legendary and I suppose that the chances of any of their records reaching West Yorkshire were slim. The dawn of the CD era saw many labels pushing their back catalogue out in the new format and one of the first CD's I ever bought was the double header of #1 Record and Radio City.

There is little doubt that Big Star worked best during the brief period when Alex Chilton and Chris Bell were in tandem. Radio City (although wonderful) lacks some of its predecessors sense of purpose and, come the recording of Sister Lovers, Alex was away with the fairies. Listening to the three records together is like hearing a band disintegrate in front of your ears.

The song that makes it into the Good Reverend's Hymnal is the glorious 'When My Baby's Beside Me'. This, quite simply, is how bands should sound. Whenever I hear it it makes me feel a whole lot better and that, as they say, will do for me.

MP3: Big Star - When My Baby's Beside Me

We are to whom we listen

2008-04-02T18:50:00.004Z

This was the phrase that struck whilst reading an editorial by Lenny Kaye. It is often edifying to know what someone else listens to. I certainly make assumptions about people based on their listening habits. But is Lenny right? And if so do we come to define ourselves through music.

I am always perplexed by those stories from people who say ‘that song got me through my teens/divorce/hard time’ etc. How can a song do that? Unless we take a message from it and act upon that message or receive comfort/guidance. And are there really songs that do that? Most of the musicians I’ve met couldn’t think their way out of a paper bag less bring succour to the lonely and forsaken. Yet some writers undoubtedly have the knack of summing up an experience in a simple pithy line and in so doing bring clarity. My current fave being Bright Eyes when he writes ‘What seems so simple by the moonlight by the morning never is’. I can relate to the sentiments yet could never have put things so simply. Bastard.

So here are the last three things I purchased and have listened to endlessly over the last week. Can I divine some sense of self from these disparate songs? Sorry Lenny, I just can’t see it.

MP3 Nancy Elizabeth – I’m Like The Paper

MP3 Swell Maps – Raining In My Room

MP3 The Sea & Cake – Left On

God Knows: Bob Dylan Redefined

2008-03-28T19:23:00.003Z

No stranger to a Dylan moment Cat Power is captured here on a 1970 recording for the BBC.

At her best Ms Marshall has a way of worming herself insidiously inside a song to draw out it’s dark interior and on paper Oh, Sister possesses all the hallmarks of the kind of song that will bring out this quality. Sadly she fails to ignite sounding laboured and dull rather than careworn.

Things pick up as she segues into Knockin’ on Heaven's Door with its prescient air of doom. Though I would have loved her to have stopped strumming half way through and just let her voice drift into the awaiting void.

The piece has a certain novelty value as it was recorded at Peel Acres, the home of John Peel, and was one of a number of songs that failed to make it onto The Covers Record. Also recorded was the earlier Dylan song Hard Times In New York Town along with a brief rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Freebird, Oasis’s Wonderwall and the sessions finest moment Mary J Blige’s Deep Inside.

MP3 Cat Power – Oh, Sister/Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

Review: The Waybacks - Loaded

2008-03-23T10:25:00.006Z

The Waybacks have been around for a few years now but the release of Loaded on Nashville's Compass Records reveals, for the first time, a pared down, four piece line-up that seeks to offer a tighter focus to their eclectic sounds.

At the band's heart is singer and guitarist James Nash and he, along with newly recruited fiddle virtuoso Warren Hood, has taken on writing responsibility for the new album. Having two independently strong writers within a band can cause problems. On Loaded however, for the most part, it works, not least because of the quality of the playing which is impeccable throughout. Nash's writing tends to be more bluesy and rhythmic whilst Hood's displays a greater melodic strength – perhaps they should get a few beers in, get the guitars out and see what they can come up with together.

The Waybacks have been pigeon-holed in the past as bluegrass revivalists but if Loaded does nothing else it will free them from that erroneous label completely. The band draw upon a wide range of influences from the Hammond tinged Atlantic Soul of the excellent 'Nice To Be Alone' through to the Western Swing of 'Tired Of Being Right' and the sea shantyesque 'Beyond The Northwest Passage'. Perhaps the most extraordinary track on the album is the instrumental 'Black Cat' – a vehicle for Hood's fiddle playing - that takes us on a musical journey that starts on the plains of Texas, transports us through Eastern Europe, allows the Spanish sunshine to settle briefly on our backs, leads us onwards to a Parisian café, places a glass of Ricard on the table, before making a convincing case that Stéphane Grappelli has rosined up his bow once more.

Loaded is not a faultless record – there is a little too much inconsistency in the writing for that – but it is never less than a rewarding and thoroughly enjoyable listen and well worth getting hold of.

MP3: The Waybacks - Savannah

God Knows: Bob Dylan Redefined

2008-03-21T16:50:00.005Z

From a much lambasted album, The Hollies Sing Dylan, this is perhaps the most reviled track. Which is obviously why I love it so. Always for the underdog us English you know. And very English it is too with Alan Clarke giving a stately performance devoid of any emotion or understanding of the songs themes.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be too harsh as I consider this to be one particular Dylan song that should be left alone. It’s narrative being too wrapped up in his legacy to that point.

Alongside the clueless vocal performance the accompaniment is also wonderfully bizarre with a muscular drum sound being out of step with the playful reed and woodwind interludes. The overall effect sitting somewhere between West Coast psychedelia and the pristine orchestration of 60’s UK pop.

The 1969 album concentrates on Dylan’s more romantic songs and that is where it’s strengths lay. ‘I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight’ being the most effective. The same year saw them have considerable commercial success with ‘Sorry Suzanne’ and ‘He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother’ as well as releasing the fine ‘Hollies Sing Hollies’ album. Proving that they really didn’t need the frippery of a whole album devoted to a songwriter whose skin they just couldn’t get under.

MP3 The Hollies – My Back Pages

The Good Reverend's Hymnal - #7 Tear Stained Eye by Son Volt

2008-03-18T19:25:00.004Z

I saw Uncle Tupelo play live once and was disappointed. Farrar and Tweedy seemed desperate to outdo each other and much of the set was a noisy mess. Not long after they went their separate ways.

For all the melody and rich structure that Tweedy brought to Wilco my heart has always been drawn towards the Son Volt boys. Patchy, inconsistent and, at times far too introspective for their own good they may be. But when they can produce songs like this you can forgive them anything.

Walking down Main Street,
Getting to know the concrete
Looking for a purpose
From a neon sign

Can you deny there's nothing greater...

MP3: Tear Stained Eye - Son Volt

God Knows: Bob Dylan Redefined

2008-03-14T21:23:00.004Z

It has been a hectic week spent in the captivating city of Glasgow. Hence the lack of posts. But here we are at Friday again so the show must go on.
My favoured Dylan cover that I'd been contemplating only exists in the vaults of a BBC archive. A version of Forever Young performed as an entry in the Choir Of The Year competition some eight years ago. Though it failed to captivate in the way Dylans own version did on the 19th September 2000 when I heard it as if sang for my own children rather than the ageing population surrounding me.

As those archives are out of reach we shall contemplate Neko Case. A singer much favoured in the Reverends household whose melodic but unexeptional version of Buckets Of Rain passes the time quite pleasantly. The song always seemed to me to sit rather oddly at the end of Blood On The Tracks. It's upbeat mood, despite its blues signature, had me perplexed after the vitriol that preceded it. As if to say 'right, I've got that of my chest now lets get on with being friends again'.
The fact that Dylan has seldom performed it only adds to the mystique surrounding what is at heart a simple but heartfelt song. Leaving me wondering if he regretted including it at all on his masterpiece.

I much prefer Bette Midler's odd but far more engaging version yet have chosen to overlook it as the author intrudes and somewhat spoils the theme of these reflections.

MP3 Neko Case – Buckets Of Rain

God Knows: Bob Dylan Redefined

2008-03-07T17:54:00.005Z

Of all the Dylan covers I am familiar with perhaps this is the most enigmatic. To what purpose did Todd Rundgren record this and the other covers that went to make up half of 1976’s Faithful?
His recording and producing schedule had been punishing with 11 albums in 7 years so perhaps he just wanted to kick back and enjoy. Certainly side 2 would suggest that the muse had not left him as, although they are far simpler than the previous years Initiation, his own material was to a high standard (with the exception of the woeful Boogies).

This reworking has the feel of a tribute rather than interpretation. Hence Todd eschews his own vocal style in favour of mimicking Dylans drawl. Which ultimately begs the question – why bother? Todd has always been capable of so much more than mere reverence. Which is why I view it as enigmatic rather than perfunctory.

MP3 Todd Rundgren – Most Likely You Go Your Way And I’ll Go Mine

Review:Theme Time Radio Hour

2008-03-06T19:04:00.003Z

Subtitled ‘…with your host Bob Dylan’ this fifty song collection would have been far more engaging if it did what it says on the tin. As it lacks Dylan’s laconic intros and asides that illuminate his unique programme the central point is somewhat missed. Furthermore, being drawn from across the 828 tracks played in the first series there is no unifying theme here. Instead we have a hotchpotch of diverse songs that, when played together, fail to give any sense of the show in which they appeared. Missing also are the old station jingles, recipes, letters, cleaning tips, poetry readings and miscellaneous trivia that give the series it’s wonderfully bizarre quality.
Putting these grumbles aside what is left is a great eclectic mix of blues, rockabilly, soul, be-bop, rock n’roll and pop music drawn from the last 80 years including The Clash, Bobby Darin, Merle Haggard and Memphis Slim. Inevitably the majority are drawn from material no longer subject to copyright and therefore do not represent the breadth of material within the shows where Dylan displays a knowledge and love for many of his contemporaries that would previously have been hard to imagine. This collection fails to capture that enthusiasm and as such fails to honour its title.

Review: Titina - Cruel Destino

2008-03-06T18:58:00.002Z

Previously Caesaria Evora was the voice most readily associated with Cape Verde despite Titina (real name Albertina Rodrigues Almeida) having a recording career that goes back to her teens.
Now in her more mature years hopefully she will achieve some belated success on a broader stage.
Drawn from some of Cape Verde’s most popular writers her exquisite renditions of these beautiful poems ooze romance in all its guises. Although hurt seems to feature regularly too. “Passion is a hardship” she proclaims, though ‘sadder still is the suffering of a hidden tear surrounded by regret’.
Later, with ‘A Heavy Heart’ we learn her lover is “an incurable wound/a harsh word/that God sent from above” yet despite this she still says “I want you so much/like my mothers love”.
Such are the vagaries of love and whilst learning how the heart can withstand hardship she leaves us a warning. “You betrayed me/oh you dishonourable wretch/this is hell and you must pay/for every single sin”. You have been warned, in the most beautiful way of course.

Antiqcool - Drifting Through My Mind

2008-03-05T13:54:00.007Z

Placing a prominent sticker on the front of your new release that lists the bands that have influenced the recording does you no favours at all. It practically invites the listener to spend their time spotting the references rather than actually listening to the music. A particular shame in the case of Antiqcool for Songs Of Hope And Despair is anything but a lazy re-tread of already familiar sounds.

The driving force behind Antiqcool is singer, song writer and guitarist Pete Smith - further details are hard to come by - but, as the album is inspired by the people and places of the North East it seems entirely possible that he hails from that particular neck of the woods.

The opening track - 'Englishman Out In The Midday Sun' sets the tone with ethereal vocals layered upon lyrical guitar lines that put me in mind of the Isley's Summer Breeze, and this relaxed, chilled out feel is maintained throughout. Herein lies one of potential problems that Antiqcool face in their quest to be noticed. Their airy, breathily light music just sort of drifts through your consciousness on a first listen and, in the frantic, instant world in which we live, runs the real risk of being ignored.

It is only on second, third and subsequent listenings that the strength of Pete Smith's writing becomes evident. There is a lyrical strength here that is worth exploring. And, if sometimes the imagery is a little naïve ('I was a pearl in the middle of an empty shell, found me a home in the bosom of a girl who casts a spell'), this is more than balanced by a fair share of honesty and tenderness ('Going home, now I'm feeling alone, Got Some pictures in my head to call my own'). Add to this a strong melodic talent and the vision to experiment with chord structure and texture and you have much to admire and like.

Songs Of Hope And Despair is not yet the finished article. The production does not always hang together as well as it could - and neither, more worryingly do some the songs. This is best illustrated by 'Just Another Groove On A Forty Five' - perhaps my favourite song and yet the most frustrating. It has an inviting guitar intro, a strong opening verse, a powerfully understated hook and a pleasantly melodic guitar outro, but too frequently meanders away from the road it set out upon and, at over 6 minutes is too long.

The more I have played this album, the more delights I have found on it and the more I have enjoyed it. If Antiqcool could find a sympathetic hand to lend a little more focus to their ideas then the future could look very bright indeed.

MP3: Antiqcool - I Can See Where You're Coming From

God Knows: Bob Dylan Redefined

2008-02-29T12:52:00.003Z

I’m sure someone will put me right but this is the only cover version I’m aware of for Dylan’s ode to Jim 'Catfish' Hunter, the US baseball player.

On this side of the pond Baseball is really rounders and is a game mostly played by girls at school. Odd then that a boy from a steel town with two professional football teams should breathe so much life into this eulogy as to make Catfish’s exploits seem interesting to those of us have no interest whatsoever in the game.

It can be found on Joe Cocker's 1976 album Stingray which was yet another in a long line of albums that the other Reverend Doctor could scarce understand my admiration for. Admittedly some (Slapp Happy/Henry Cow ‘Desperate Straights’, BJH ‘Live’) have not stood up well to long tern scrutiny but others (Al Jarreau ‘We Got By’, Bette Midler ‘Divine Miss M’) have, like Stingray, retained their lustre.

Cocker had, by this time, lost much of the rawness of his early work which was glorious in its seemingly effortless grit. In it’s a place a more measured approach brings out the glorious timbre in his unique voice.

MP3 Joe Cocker – Catfish

The Good Reverend's Hymnal - #6 110 In The Shade by Chuck Prophet

2008-02-28T17:33:00.007Z

Chuck Prophet emerged from the occasional brilliance and frequent mayhem of Green On Red to pursue a solo career that, though admirable in its longevity and quality, has been largely ignored by the wider world. That's a shame for I am yet to hear a Chuck Prophet song that I didn't like. What I admire most about Chuck and his songs is the obvious care, attention and affection that he brings to his music. He gets a beautifully relaxed feel on his records - you just know that here is a guy who loves his music and wants it to be played as well as it can be and wants to make the recording of it as enjoyable as possible.

110 In The Shade comes from Balinese Dancer, his second solo album. Its a great song, the languid playing conjuring up mental images of a midday sun beating down on a parched landscape. The song closes with Chuck's guitar weaving a meandering and magical path into the middle distance that emphasises his understated but considerable talent.

I could listen to this all day, and frequently do.

MP3: 110 In The Shade - Chuck Prophet

Review: Caramel Jack - 1900

2008-02-26T09:30:00.002Z

Less focused on Americana than 2004’s Low Story the Brighton based duo of Richard Scott and Joe Doveton have concentrated their efforts on making a very British album. Elements from over the pond do creep in, especially when BJ Cole contributes his characteristic pedal steel, and the lush orchestration, brass solos, break beats and occasional retro groove do lend a more universal sound. But it’s the storytelling that roots it so firmly in their own backyard.

Opener ‘Girl With The Marketing Eyes’ is a heavy handed and clumsy piece telling of desire in the workplace. It is unconvincing in its attempt to describe the mundanity of office life with “it’s total shit, absolute shit” being the low point in it’s lyrical expression. Surprisingly, and thankfully, not only do things improve but it’s hard to believe the same author wrote ‘Bed’, a vaudeville sing-a-long, or the punk influenced ‘Hell’s Driver’. Let alone ‘Johnny Jarvis’, a song Barclay James Harvest would have been proud of. Throw in a sea shanty, the wonderfully thematic The City Rises and a bunch of other left field surprises and you have one of this years oddball gems.

Non of these could have been achieved without some serious friends and in Ashley Slater, Des Crawley and Chris Anderson they have some heavyweight accompanists who lift everything onto another level.

MP3 Caramel Jack – The City Rises

Sex Pistols v Duffy

2008-02-25T14:12:00.003Z

The last time I went to see a band that was No. 1 in the singles chart at the time was way back in the mid seventies at St Georges Hall, Bradford when Slade were riding high with their Xmas hit.
Yet it wasn’t that commonality that I was thinking about as Duffy ploughed through her short performance last night. It was 1976 in the back streets of Leeds watching the Sex Pistols perform Stepping Stone. Ms Duffy has penned a song that not only goes by the same title as the Monkees number but it shares a distinct lyrical similarity also. Well I guess the phrase does lend itself to certain clichés.

So, after all the fuss and hype last night was finally an opportunity to see if Ms Duffy could pull it off in front of her adoring public. Like many of these events the answer was something of a mixed bag. Her voice was superb throughout (with a lot of help from the soundman of course, but you expect that) but the songs were not always up to the job. It was plain to tell which from the forthcoming album were produced by Bernard Butler. That would be the diverse, interesting ones. The rest have been turned into generic pop crap that do no justice to her talent.

I read somewhere that she could just as easily landed up in the clutches of Simon Cowell as Rough Trade. Well for two thirds of this show it was hard to see what the ‘indie’ connection had done for her.

The crowd went suitably wild for the singles of course but there was no real buzz about the place as she trotted off after a mere fifty minutes. At least they stayed to the end, which is more than could be said for most of the crowd back in ’76.

MP3 Sex Pistols – Stepping Stone

God Knows: Bob Dylan Redefined

2008-02-22T12:32:00.002Z

One of Dylan’s most covered pieces has become a modern template for protest songs. David Rovics has made a whole career out of it for goodness sake. You might therefore think it was something of an old warhorse that has outstayed its welcome. Certainly in the wrong hands it can sound tired and lame. It’s all too easy to switch off when you think you know what’s coming next.
This makes the task of injecting something new into the mix, making us listen anew to something we were previously comfortable with, very challenging.

I am undecided as to whether Youssou N’Dour has achieved this or not. Thankfully he chooses to sing in his first language Wolof, not French or English as he is want to do when he forgets what it is that makes him an amazing vocalist. Anything else would have lost its impact and has the effect of making the listener ponder the songs themes within the context of N’Dour’s Senegalese home.

On a less favourable note I never favour his arrangements that are more reflective of a western audience. Live the drums are more to the fore and he is less inclined to put in the ‘one’. The album that this is taken from The Guide has these failings in abundance. But then I tend to be a purist in these matters and still crank up the old Saprom cassettes.

MP3 Youssou N’Dour – Chimes Of Freedom

The Good Reverend's Hymnal - #5 Knock Knock Who's There by Mary Hopkin

2008-02-20T17:12:00.006Z

Having a favourite song that has won the Eurovision Song Contest does little for anyone's street cred. I could argue that it is a favourite of mine in a sort of post ironic way. I would be lying. I just like it.

Knock Knock Who's There is simply a wonderfully crafted pop song, both lyrically and musically, and Mary's voice sounds just great.

The song featured in the excellent BBC drama Blackpool of a couple of years back. Here, the guarded optimism of the lyrics, along with the lightness and playfulness of the melody, juxtaposed with the beginnings of an obviously doomed affair between the main protagonists and served to accentuate the plays darker emotional and social themes.

There, who said I couldn't write meaningless twaddle.

MP3: Knock Knock Who's There - Mary Hopkin

Competition Time

2008-02-18T14:44:00.015Z

Last months winner was Emily from London who successfully identified that the Manfred Mann song covered by Springsteen during his 70's live shows was Pretty Flamingo and that Joy Division were initially called Warsaw.

This months prizes are a couple of 60's re-issues just released on Cherry Red Records by Stone Country and The Sparrow, plus the latest from Los Angles band Radar Bros.

To get your hands on these just let The Reverend Doctor know the answer to this question.

Stone Country featured the voice of Steve Young who's first solo album was called Rock, Salt & Nails. Which Scottish island do the band of the same name come from ?

To enter click here, or use the 'Talk To Me' link on the right. The competition will close on March 16th.

God Knows: Bob Dylan Redefined

2008-02-15T17:19:00.002Z

This weeks choice came about from an unlikely source.

As the father of a fourteen year old daughter there are many things to worry about. Most will pass and with time teenage traumas will give way to maturity which will allow bonds to build that have been strained by youth. However it is my observation that one thing forged in these early teenage years that will remain immutable is musical taste. Therefore this is THE most critical time of a child’s life (well almost).

It was therefore with shock and amazement that I was asked by said truculent daughter if we had a copy of June Carter singing ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’. At first I leapt to say ‘No, it appeared on a Johnny Cash album Orange Blossom Special with June accompanying the great man’, but I stopped myself just in time to merely say ‘Yes’.

This counted as a long conversation in our recent history and yet I cannot think of another one in all her years that filled me with such hope for the future. To hear Johnny & June blasting out from behind the door through which I am not allowed makes me feel that half my job as a father is done. Relief, or what.

MP3 June Carter & Johnny Cash – It Ain’t Me Babe

I'm In Love With A Girl

2008-02-12T21:46:00.002Z

They may not all be love songs to you but they are to me.

A Happy Valentines Day mix from the Reverend Doctor

I'm In Love With A Girl – Big Star

I'll Be Your Baby Tonight – Maria Muldaur

Just A Little Weakness – Archie Brown

Please Read The Letter – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Keeping You In Mind – Mary Margaret O'Hara

Mister Love – Re Winkler

Everyday – Slade

Should I Stay – Gabrielle

Mardy Bum – The Artic Monkeys

I Met Her At Church – Box Tops

Slo Toms – The Bottle Rockets

Winona – Matthew Sweet

The Scientist Writes A Letter – Tom Verlaine

Without You – Badfinger

When I Stop Dreaming – The Louvin Brothers

MP3: ~~A Valentine Day Mix~~

Review: Kimmie Rhodes - Walls Fall Down

2008-02-09T17:36:00.000Z

The clue to this album is in the small print. Namely the songwriting credits. Kimmie's voice has always been a thing of beauty but her knack of writing a killer tune and engaging lyric seems to have deserted her of late. Not since Picture In A Frame has her own material really inspired. Even then much of it was rescued by Willie Nelson’s contribution. Not that her own material on Walls Fall Down is awful, just that what once had an edge has been replaced by saccharine sentiments.

For its finer moments she turns to a couple of trusted writers. Townes Van Zandt’s ‘If I Needed You’ shuffles gently into view before she gives a mellow reading of this plaintive ode to love. An equally downbeat mood follows, even if the message is distinctly different, for Rodney Crowell’s condemnation of American culture ‘Sex & Gasoline’.

Of her own compositions ‘All In All’ comes closest to recalling her finest work as she manages to put that catch in her voice that rolls back the years and believe in her again. Sadly I fear she will never do this consistently enough to make another West Texas Heaven or Man In The Moon again.

MP3 Kimmie Rhodes – All in All

God Knows: Bob Dylan Redefined

2008-02-08T07:15:00.001Z

Writing about this 1965 classic Rolling Stone magazine declared "No other pop song has so thoroughly challenged and transformed the commercial laws and artistic conventions of its time". They clearly were not listening to the eccentric version by the venerable Cabot.

Making his career out being a terribly proper British gent he is perhaps best remembered as Giles French in the TV programme Family Affair. Although his crowning glory, in my opinion, was as the voice of Bagheera in Jungle Book. Whilst many of my generation will remember his voice as the narrator in the Disney’s take on Winnie The Pooh and the Blustery Day.

The song itself remains an enigma. Who is its subject? I am of the school of thought that it refers to Dylan himself who felt dissociated from his past with ‘no direction home’. Such ideas hold no water within Cabot’s recitation. He brings the same narrative air that defined his voice roles. In a sense this heightens the quality of dissociation but at no time echoes the isolation inherent in the original.

Ultimately it’s a party piece. A bizarre coda to a wonderful career. That it sits within an entire albums worth of such interpretations deflects from its uniqueness and is therefore best heard in isolation.

Much as I like this version, principally for its novelty value rather than artistic merit, I much prefer Spirit’s cover from their monumental ‘Spirit of ‘76’. A track I feel we are destined to revisit later within this series. In the meantime, roll on Mr Cabot.

MP3 Sebastian Cabot - Like A Rolling Stone

Slipping Through Jesus' Hands

2008-02-07T16:56:00.000Z

Not sure it was a drinking crowd but it was certainly a sparse one that witnessed the return of American Music Club to Leeds' Irish Centre last night. With two new members (bass player Sean Hoffman and drummer Steve Didelot) on board the band never strayed too far from the familiar ground of the new album, The Golden Age, including only a smattering of material from their rich and varied back catalogue.

The opening tune, 'All My Love', was immediately impressive with the new band working well and Steve Didelot's harmonies adding welcome colour and texture. Mark Eitzel was his usual contradictory mix of friendliness, self-effacement, awkwardness and poise – all of which contribute greatly to his charm and appeal. We old-timers were treated to 'Blue And Grey Shirt', which brought a little tear to my eye, and a rhythmically re-worked 'Western Sky'. Of the new songs 'Decibels and The Little Pills' sounded great and, whilst I would have liked to have heard them play 'Patriot's Heart' and 'Myopic Books' once more, we were treated to a smouldering version of 'Home' from the last album.

It must be a little disappointing for the band, and Eitzel in particular, to see the critical acclaim they receive not reflected in sales or live attendances. The band have always pushed at the boundaries both lyrically and with their musical soundscapes and, whilst they do not always make for an easy listen, they inevitably make for a rewarding one. It is just a shame that more people cannot be persuaded to join in what is always an interesting and often moving experience.

The Golden Age is out now on Merge Records in North America and on Cooking Vinyl in Europe.

MP3 American Music Club – I Know That’s Not Really You

The Good Reverend's Hymnal - #4 The Sun Hasn't Set On This Boy Yet by Nils Lofgren

2008-02-04T15:22:00.000Z

Recently I've been getting itchy fingers and have been quite fancying playing a bit of music again. When I came across an advert from a band wanting a piano player I applied. They sent me some demos which sounded good and I could hear some spaces into which my clumsy playing might fit. Negotiations commenced and they seemed nice guys but we eventually reached an amicable agreement that it would not work out as my advanced years would not sit easily with the demographic of their audience.

A look in the mirror was enough to tell me they were probably right but how I was deflated.

Sometimes favourite songs are there for when you need them, to cheer you up, to calm you down or, as in this case, to rebuild the broke down ruins that were once your confidence.

Sing it for me Nils...

MP3: The Sun Hasn't Set On This Boy Yet - Nils Lofgren

The Random Reverend #2

2008-01-29T16:00:00.000Z

As I am visiting my parishioners by public transport today I took the opportunity to play another game of 'The Random Reverend' (hit shuffle on iPod, post first 5 songs to blog, prepare for potential embarrassment).

We start with David Ruffin and a track from his debut 1969 solo release My Whole World Ended. David was never a man to undersell a vocal and he is in fine voice here. I'll always be thankful to Dwight Yoakam as his debut album (from which this song comes) reignited my passion for music. During the early 80s I was becoming increasingly disenchanted with things until I bought Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc and suddenly my ears were alive again.

Astor Piazzolla's music melts the hardest of hearts. This interpretation of Libertango is from cellist Yo-Yo Ma who does a remarkable job integrating his classical technique with the passion of the tango. The Postmarks are from Miami and are fronted by a girl called Tim. Just got their eponymous début this week (out on Unfiltered Records) and very fine it sounds too.

Last, but by no means least, comes a little bit of Tammy. Not sure, however, that Mrs Grace would agree with the sentiments she expresses.

MP3 David Ruffin - Pieces Of A Man

MP3 Dwight Yoakam - I'll Be Gone

MP3 Yo-Yo Ma - Libertango

MP3 The Postmarks - End Of The Story

MP3 Tammy Wynette - Run Woman Run

Competition Time

2008-01-27T18:02:00.001Z

The Reverend Doctor is fortunate to receive a regular supply of albums for review and a parsons wages being what they are storage space is at a premium. So time for another clearout.

Slade have long been heroes and a re-issue of 'Till Deaf' is as good a starting point for the unconverted.

I may never have travelled down a highway (they will always be motorways to me) but if I had to I can think of no better company than Omar & Jimmie.

Shooter Jennings latest is another bar-room brawl of an album. All sweat and swagger.

If you fancy winning these then consider these two questions and send your answers to the Good Reverend by February 16th.

1) In the mid 70's Manfred Mann went to No.1 on the Billboard chart with a version of Springsteen's Blinded By The Light. A Mann original was a regular in Bruce's live set around the same time. What was it?

2) What was the original name of Joy Division?

The discs will be posted free of charge to wherever in the world the winner lives. In the event of a tie the proverbial hat will be dusted off and Mrs Grace will select the winner to ensure an impartial choice.

To enter click here, or use the 'Talk To Me' link on the right.

Good luck

It's All Over Bar The Shouting - Triple J Update

2008-01-27T09:16:00.000Z

With over 700,000 votes the worlds largest music poll has revealed Australia's favourite songs for 2007. To listen to the countdown visit here. Brace yourself, it's a mammoth session. As ever the list has thrown up a couple of oddities and this years award for beautifully bizarre goes to the No. 9 slot Soko , described by the Reverend Doctor's favourite comedian Ross Noble as 'sexy and mental at the same time'.

1 Muse - Knights of Cydonia
2 Silverchair - Straight Lines
3 Kings Of Leon - On Call
4 John Butler Trio - Better Than
5 Faker - This Heart Attack
6 Foo Fighters - The Pretender
7 Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (live)
8 Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up To Dry
9 Soko - I'll Kill Her
10 Panics, The - Don't Fight It
11 Bluejuice - Vitriol
12 Wombats, The - Let's Dance To Joy Division
13 Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby
14 Muscles - Ice Cream
15 Powderfinger - Lost And Running
16 Gyroscope - Snakeskin
17 M.I.A - Paper Planes
18 Presets, The - My People
19 Architecture In Helsinki - Heart It Races
20 Kanye West - Stronger
21 Chemical Brothers - The Salmon Dance
22 John Butler Trio - Used To Get High
23 White Stripes - Icky Thump
24 Bloc Party - Hunting For Witches
25 Urthboy - We Get Around
26 Hilltop Hoods - Recapturing The Vibe (Restrung)
27 Operator Please Just A Song About Ping Pong
28 Silversun Pickups Lazy Eye
29 Regina Spektor Real Love (Like A Version)
30 Silverchair If You Keep Losing Sleep
31 Angus & Julia Stone Wasted
32 Kisschasy Opinions Won't Keep You Warm At Night
33 Kings Of Leon Fans
34 Feist 1234
35 Justice D.A.N.C.E
36 Architecture In Helsinki Hold Music
37 Cold War Kids Hospital Beds
38 Beautiful Girls I Thought About You
39 Cut Copy Hearts On Fire
40 Bloc Party I Still Remember
41 Modest Mouse Dashboard
42 Tegan And Sara Back In Your Head
43 Lupe Fiasco (Feat. Matthew Santos) Superstar
44 My Chemical Romance Teenagers
45 Angus & Julia Stone The Beast
46 British India Tie Up My Hands
47 Cog What If
48 Bloc Party Flux
49 Arctic Monkeys Fluorescent Adolescent
50 Cat Empire So Many Nights
51 Missy Higgins Peachy
52 Kisschasy Spray On Pants
53 Missy Higgins Steer
54 Klaxons Golden Skans
55 John Butler Trio Good Excuse
56 Xavier Rudd Better People
57 Midnight Juggernauts Into The Galaxy
58 Muse Invincible
59 Fratellis Chelsea Dagger
60 Kings Of Leon Charmer
61 Birds Of Tokyo Wayside
62 Cat Empire No Longer There
63 Karnivool The Only Way
64 Shins, The Australia
65 Editors Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors
66 Powderfinger I Don't Remember
67 Amy Winehouse Rehab (feat. Jay-Z)
68 Ben Kweller Penny On The Train Track
69 Digitalism Pogo
70 Tegan And Sara The Con
71 Butterfly Effect Reach
72 Jose Gonzalez Down The Line
73 Grinspoon Black Tattoo
74 British India Run The Red Light
75 Kasabian Shoot the Runner
76 Muscles Sweaty
77 Operator Please Get What You Want
78 Arctic Monkeys Brianstorm
79 Josh Pyke Lines On Palms
80 Silverchair Reflections Of A Sound
81 Arcade Fire No Cars Go
82 Foo Fighters Long Road To Ruin
83 Wolfmother Pleased To Meet You
84 Chemical Brothers Do It Again
85 Yeah Yeah Yeahs Down Boy
86 Midnight Juggernauts Tombstone
87 Jackson Jackson Eliza
88 Cops The Message
89 Queens Of The Stone Age Sick, Sick, Sick
90 Clare Bowditch & The Feeding Set When The Lights Went Down
91 Josh Pyke Sew My Name
92 Waifs, The Sun Dirt Water
93 Bumblebeez Dr Love
94 Radiohead Jigsaw Falling Into Place
95 Regina Spektor Samson
96 Ben Lee Love Me Like The World Is Ending
97 Josh Pyke Forever Song
98 Interpol The Heinrich Maneuver
99 Hives, The Tick Tick Boom
100 Pnau Wild Strawberries

Australia Day

2008-01-25T20:30:00.000Z

Today is Australia Day upon which our brethren ‘down under’ commemorate the founding of the first white settlement in Australia in 1788. Recorded celebrations go back to 1808 so for a full history go here. Its celebration is a sore point for some of Australia's Aboriginal community who consider they were invaded by the British on that day in 1788.

There are many musical themed events amongst the many festivities. The Triple J Hottest 100 is in its 15th year with its countdown of the most popular songs of the year according to listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J. Last years most popular being Augie March’s ‘One Crowded Hour’.
Though special mention has to go to number 26. I am absolutely gobsmacked that the amazing ‘Ta Douleur’ by Camille featured at all, never mind so high up the rankings. For this fact alone I am revising all my beliefs about the musical integrity of our Antipodean friends.
The countdown starts at 10AM AEST on the radio with Live shows picking up the tension as the day progresses.

The Sydney Leg of Big Day Out has also traditionally been held on Australia Day although this year it was held yesterday. Probably as a result of the Flag Ban Controversy that has affected the event in recent times. Acts this year included Billy Bragg, arcade Fire, Rage Against The Machine and the fabulous LCD Soundsystem. Headliner Bjork being a late cancellation due to throat problems.

The Reverend Doctor can do no justice to the wealth of great music eminating from down under so here are a selection from the songs that will blasting out around the vicarage as the day progresses.

MP3 Wolfmother - Woman

MP3 The Waifs - Pony

MP3 Died Pretty - Wonderland

MP3 Angus & Julia Stone - Here We Go Again

God Knows: Bob Dylan Redefined

2008-01-25T19:00:00.000Z

Buffalo Tom have been fairly prolific since their inception in 1986 with a series of albums that have always been solid if unspectacular. Personal favourite has always been 1993’s Let Me Come Over, from which three singles were taken. One of these, Velvet Roof, contained a couple of extra tracks including this version of Side 1, Track 2 from Bringing It All Back Home.

The contradictory lyrics adapt well to the punk inflected garage rock that was the Tom’s trademark. However a sneering Bill Janowitz doesn’t quite persuade us that he’s as unperturbed as Dylan appeared. Nevertheless it is suitably different to convince anyone that a good song can transcend any genre.

The band still tour and continue to surprise with their take on sacred cows. The Jam’s ‘Going Underground’ from 2000’s Fire and Skill being another fine example.

MP3 Buffalo Tom - She Belongs To Me

The Good Reverend's Hymnal - #3 Southtown Girls by The Hold Steady

2008-01-25T10:39:00.000Z

Sometimes a tune becomes a favourite because it has lived with you almost all your life. Sometimes a tune becomes a favourite simply because you have not been able to take it off the turntable for the past few months.

Southtown Girls falls into the latter category.

Maybe in another weeks time I will have forgotten it. Maybe not. The a cappella intro grabs your attention and that first organ sweep has you hooked. As soon as the guitar kicks in you realise that there is no point in fighting it and you just allow yourself to be reeled into a swarming mass of bluesy, swampy, rocky perfection.

It struck me that if I listen to this song for as long as I have listened to some others (see previous hymnal post) I will be nearly 80. On so many levels I hope that turns out to be true.

MP3: Southtown Girls - The Hold Steady

Review - Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill - Welcome Here Again

2008-01-24T14:30:00.000Z

Martin Hayes started playing the fiddle when he was seven years old and, by the age of thirteen, was touring with the Tulla Ceili Band, arguably the most revered and famous ceili band in Ireland. When Martin left Clare for Chicago in the 1980’s he became immersed in the diversity of musical styles that the city had to offer and it was there that he met his current musical partner, Dennis Cahill.

The pair released couple of collaborations in the 90s but their new album - Welcome Here Again - represents a new departure that sees the duo experiment with rhythms, melody and tuning without losing sight of the tradition on which the music is grounded.

The result, as the download below ably demonstrates, is intense, emotional traditional music of the highest order and well worth further investigation. For further details visit the Green Linnet website. To hear more sample tracks click here.

MP3 Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill - P. Joes Reel

The Random Reverend

2008-01-20T16:08:00.001Z

O.K. Here's the deal. It's Sunday afternoon, it's raining, the sermon is written and I'm bored. Rather than doing the ironing or walking the dog I have come up with a new game. It works like this:

1. Switch on iPod
2. Hit random play
3. Post the first five tracks to the blog no matter how embarrassing they are

Here are this week's offerings:

MP3 Gene Clark – She Don't Care About Time

MP3 The Postal Service – This Place Is A Prison

MP3 Mott The Hoople – Pearl 'n' Roy (England

MP3 Gary Louris – True Blue

MP3 Todd Rundgren – Wolfman Jack

The Gene Clark track (and does he not sing it beautifully?) is from the 1972 release Roadmaster. This Place Is A Prison is from those darlings of indie-electro The Postal Service's 2003 debut Give Up. The glorious nonsense that is Pearl 'n' Roy (England) comes from Mott The Hoople's 1974 masterpiece The Hoople.

Gary Louris was, of course, responsible for much of what was great about The Jayhawks. He has a new album out - Vagabonds - which I have just ordered and urge you to do the same. Last, but by no means least, is our old friend Todd with a track taken from 1972's Something/Anything which is, for many, his finest work to date.

There, I quite enjoyed that. I might do it again next Sunday.

God Knows: Bob Dylan Redefined

2008-01-18T21:36:00.001Z

As a participant in the Rolling Thunder Revue, and for playing the role of Sarah in the epic disaster that was 'Renaldo & Clara', Ronee Blakley holds a unique place in the Dylan story.

This particular reworking of Just Like A Women does not however date from that period. Featured on the CD that accompanies 1985's I Played It For You, a docu drama about Ronee's love affair with ex-husband Wim Wenders, it is a heartfelt adaptation of the original that says more of pain and unfulfilled love than the frustration evident in Dylan's original.

As with many Dylan covers it is neither better nor worse. Merely different. Judge for yourself and please do let the Reverend Doctor know your views. And whilst your at it recommend a future selection for Bob Dylan Redefined.

MP3 Ronee Blakley - Just Like a Woman

Duffy: To post or not to post

2008-01-18T20:42:00.000Z

Now that Ms Duffy, that's Aimee to you and me, has become the critics darling since we wrote about her there seems little point in extolling her virtues. Surely the masses are all converted by now. Resistance to her charms is futile. By Christmas she will be global.

Yet still there are elements of her story that the major publications seem oblivious of, or willfully reluctant to divulge. So in the interest of completeness here are the remaining tracks from her Welsh language EP. To hear Cariad Dwinunig go here. For yet more stuff go here.

MP3 Aimee Duffy - Dim Dealtwriaeth

MP3 Aimee Duffy - Hedfan Angel

And for those of you yet to hear it here is her latest single 'Mercy'

Review : Souad Massi -Acoustic, The Best of

2008-01-16T18:40:00.001Z

What a strange choice of title. Surely a marketing ploy rather than any attempt to compile a career spanning retrospective. With only three albums to her credit are we really being asked to believe that two out every three songs weren’t up to scratch? Better to describe it for what it is - a live album of acoustic interpretations.
Recorded in Saint-Louis, France theAlgerian songstress proves to be a fine live performer ably supported by an acoustic trio. Stripped bare her songs rely upon her emotional delivery to carry them. Sometimes, as on the sumptuous ‘Yemma’ and plaintive ‘Ghir Ent’ she pulls it off. On other occasions the choice of slower, sadder songs fails to engage leaving a sense of boredom. Presumably her live set is interspersed with more fiery material. Though perhaps not as ‘Ech Edani’, all flamenco mayhem on the album is here reduced to a painful dirge. Foot stomping tempos do occasionally break out, notably on ‘Amessa’ though it’s too little too late. Better to invest in Deb, where her undoubted talents are heard in all their glory.

MP3 Souad Massi - Yemma

The Good Reverend's Hymnal - #2 A Salty Dog by Procol Harum

2008-01-16T15:44:00.001Z

It is the 4th July 1976 and a balmy summer evening in the grounds of the Castle Museum, York.

We (the two Reverend Doctors and a future Mrs Grace) are watching Procol Harum play a one-off outdoor show. It is one of those rare occasions when music, location, band, audience and ambience combine to perfection.

I have always loved Gary Brookers voice and it has rarely been better than on A Salty Dog. Keith Reid's lyrics manage to stay the right side of the twaddle he was sometimes capable of and the string arrangements provide the perfect support for a great tune.

Procol played this song that night and thirty-odd years later I still doubt that I will ever get tired of hearing it.

MP3: A Salty Dog - Procol Harum

God Knows: Bob Dylan Redefined

2008-01-11T22:37:00.001Z

The Reverend Doctor has eulogised about Mr Zimmerman on many occasions. Often to little effect as there are still many good folks who fail to appreciate the glory of his words. Over the next year, hopefully with your help, the Rev Grace will attempt to proselytize those heathens who fail to see the light by providing an alternative reading of his good works.

We start this pilgrimage with a fine example of how an interpretation can redefine how we hear the common word. Commencing like a soundtrack to Blade Runner and ending like a plaintive ode to innocence The Secret Machines exemplify how something we hold as sacred can be heard anew. Such is the glory of their rendition that they can truly claim to have delivered an offering worthy of the great bard.
A more traditional version is provided by Eels which, whilst noteworthy and highly listenable, fails to speak to either the faithful or unconverted.

MP3 The Secret Machines - Girl From The North Country

MP3 Eels - Girl From The North Country

The Good Reverend's Hymnal - #1 The New Jenny Jenkins by Neal Casal

2008-01-11T14:41:00.000Z

Twice I've been on holiday to a ramshackle house near Thou in France. Like me it is falling apart and has seen better days. However, it is where I want to live and I would go tomorrow if I could.

I remember playing The New Jenny Jenkins on the portable CD as I avoided the spiders in the rusty bath. Whenever I hear it I am transported back there and I am happy.

MP3: The New Jenny Jenkins - Neal Casal

Brooke Waggoner

2008-01-06T13:56:00.000Z

Christmas, the season of giving, may be over for another year and you may be feeling a little sad that there are no more surprises awaiting you at the bottom of your stocking.
Never fear, the good Reverend Doctor has found a little gift that slipped down the back of the sofa and has only come to light as he was gathering up the Christmas decorations.

Go here to download one of last years hidden gems, all for free. Fresh Pair Of Eyes is a six track EP that has it all but I shall, for the sake of brevity, attempt to sum it up in one sentence. Clever songs with a pop-sensibility drowned in a lush orchestral sound crowned by her sweet voice and delicate piano playing.

She says her songs tell of a "lone 22-year-old girl, sagas of daily life, bits of poetry" that are "all melded with honest proclamations and confessions." Such quotes always sound pretentious. Thankfully her record does not and it deserves a place alongside your other treasured gifts.

MP3 Brooke Waggoner - Hush If You Must

MySpace

Killer or Filler: Led Zeppelin 'Stairway To Heaven'

2008-01-03T22:49:00.000Z

The first in a series in which the Reverend Doctor William Grace delves into his back pages to explore whether a song which has acquired the accolade of ‘Rock Classic’ deserves such a title or is indeed nothing of the kind but mere album filler. Here he starts with perhaps the greatest rock anthem of the seventies.

"By the time School’s Out was rocking my playground the received, and unquestionable, wisdom was that ‘Stairway To Heaven’ was one of, if not the greatest song of all time. Sixteen year olds are prone to such exaggeration and it’s not easy to stand up to your peers and proclaim that not only is the world’s greatest guitar god not called Eric or Jimmy but is in fact called Fred and played with a defunct band from Detroit. Furthermore, that a nasal Brummie accent wasn’t any match for a boy christened Cecil from the Rock n’Roll capital of the world, Florida. Such were the hardships of worshipping bands no-one seemed to have heard, let alone care about. Imagine then that you thought rocks greatest behemoth was in fact pants. Or to be literate about it – pompous, overblown, self-indulgent, mystical crap.
The intervening years have dealt favourably with Led Zeppelin. No embarrassment can be felt shaking a balding head to ‘The Lemon Song’ or ‘Immigrant Song’, and what 50 something still doesn’t still do the occasional spot of air-guitar to ‘Rock & Roll’ (Oh, you don’t. You little liar). Then the reverie is disrupted, the mood destroyed as a delicate acoustic guitar intro gives way to a lonesome flute signaling ‘serious music alert’. Never fear. You’re mature, you can do serious. Then, oh good lord preserve us and keep us, in come the most banal cringe inducing lyrics any man has ever written. These words were not of their time as we may now find something like ‘San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)’ a song Zeppelin used earlier in their history. No, these are the words with which your children prove that music wasn’t better in the good old days. In conclusion then I find ‘Stairway To Heaven’ to be no rock classic but a disappointing coda within an excellent canon that we should all do well to avoid".

The Reverend’s wife claimed that because she recognised this tune, despite her distinct lack of musical knowledge, this therefore makes it a classic. The Reverend replied ‘Ah, shaddap you face’. Would you now please turn to page 32 of your hymn books and sing with us as Ms Dolly Parton leads our heavenly choir.

Hear the tune and read the lyrics here. A fuller account of the songs history can be viewed here.

MP3 Dolly Parton: Stairway To Heaven

Review: Shooter Jennings - The Wolf

2008-01-02T14:30:00.000Z

First a confession. I had to listen Shooter's new album The Wolf in bite size chunks in order to swallow the large slices of unpalatable would-be outlaw nonsense. Secondly a complement. He gets the reference to his dad out of the way in the first verse. After that he at least tries to make it on his own. Sadly he has nothing to contribute beyond aimless southern-fried boogie. Thirdly some advice. Aim higher. Consider writing songs that engage both the brain and groin. Just being a hard rocking badass isn’t going to remove you from the shadow you live in.
These negatives aside Jennings has a great band who ably support him. Managing to conjure a memorable hook when required for ‘Tangled Up Roses’and rock hard when Shooter wants to play at being a rock god on ‘Higher’. In between there’s the dross including a pointless cover of Dire Straits ‘Walk Of Life’. Now I am no Knopfler aficionado but even I craved the original following this pedestrian effort. And there’s the rub, there is too much that is competent without rising above the straightforward. All in all an improvement on prior efforts but he needs to go watch The Bottlerockets to see how this stuff is really done.

MP3 Shooter Jennings - Tangled Up Roses

Review: Steve Forbert - Strange Names & New Sensations

2008-01-01T11:48:00.001Z

There may occasionally be a line in a song that you identify with but rarely do you hear an entire lyric and think it describes your life. Following an up-tempo, Asbury Jukes style, intro Forbert steps up and opens his latest album Strange Names & New Sensations by stating ‘middle age is different/now you’re someone else’. At 52 his exploration of what it means to be ‘further to the end’ is both accurate and understated without ever being bitter or romantic. Such songwriting is why, thirty years after Alive on Arrival, he retains a devoted audience who warm to his plain speaking allied to catchy melodies. It sounds an easy trick yet few do it so well.
The usual love songs sound no less sincere for advancing years with a revival of 1980’s ‘Romeo’s Tune’ being the highlight. Strange Names ends with this tale of youthful lust being expertly re-defined as a reminder that relationships can endure, become stronger and offer more than could ever have been imagined.
The highlight however comes earlier with a musical obituary of the writer Spalding Gray. The weaving of personal detail into a flowing lyric supported by the catchiest of tunes is Forbert at his best.

MP3 Steve Forbert - Simply Spalding Gray

Ring Out The Old, Ring In The New

2007-12-30T12:36:00.001Z

The festive season is, for obvious reasons, the busiest time of year for the Reverend Doctor. However now that the festivities are at an end it is time for a period of quiet reflection and contemplation. To consider those that have joined us, sadly departed and those who continue to bring joy and sustenance to our lives. Here then are the moments that have made the passing of time a little easier to bear.

In no particular order the records that helped our spirits defy gravity and rise up to the firmaments:-

Diana Jones – My Rememberance Of You
Eilen Jewell – Letters From Strangers & Sinners
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – 100 Days 100 Nights
Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog
Marie Knight - Let Us Get Together
The Hold Steady – Boys & Girls In America
Beverley Knight – Music City Soul
Josh Ritter – The Historical Conquests Of
Rachel Unthank & The Winterset - The Bairns

The best song of the year, even if it caused consternation with some of our brethren

Nick Lowe – I Trained Her To Love Me

Do you see the way she lights up when I walk in a room?
That’s good
And the skip in her step when we’re both out walking in the neighborhood?

This one’s almost done. Now to watch her fall apart.
I trained her to love so I can go ahead and break her heart

You think that it’s depraved and I should be ashamed?
So what!
I’m only paying back womankind for all the grief I got

I’ve got the ladies believing forever I’ll be true.
I trained her to love me. Now excuse me, I’ve got work to do.

Biggest disappointment from one who has previously brought so much cheer.

Rufus Wainwright – Release The Stars

Which saw Wainwright The Younger finally break from that which had served him so well, namely writing a good tune. His live shows were also somewhat bereft of the joie de vivre of bygone days.

Funniest musical anecdote:-

Listening to the radio whilst driving across Ireland RTE news featured the story of a woman who was demanding her money back for the forthcoming Rolling Stones show at Slane Castle. Her argument being that when the show was announced the much abused phrase ‘plus special guests’ attracted her to splash out the enormous ticket price in the hope of a thrilling line-up. The subsequent announcement of Frankie Gavin as support did not, in her view, meet the criteria of ‘special guest’. At least not in Ireland where the excellent Mr Gavin can be seen performing across his native country on a regular basis.

The best Live shows:-

Always the toughest choice as so many performers transcend their recorded output when they tread the boards. This year brought many magical moments of which the following is an unfair reflection upon the rest

Maximo Park – Manor Quay, Sunderland May 17th

Richard Thompson – Sage, Gateshead October 16th

Devon Sproule – Cluny, Newcastle September 7th. She only sang one song, an accapella version of Kiss of Fire , due to a power cut. It was perfect and magical.

Also worthy of note – Beverley Knight, Amy Winehouse (twice brilliant, once just ordinary), Arctic Monkeys, Teddy Thompson, Alison Krauss.

Most listened to album of 2007 in the Reverend Doctors household:-

Wearing out the grooves in 2007 saw the same album as 2006 getting its unfair amount of attention:-
Bob Dylan – Modern Times

Our big hope for 2008…….Duffy, Duffy, Duffy.

Review: Dory Previn - The Art Of

2007-12-29T21:44:00.000Z

Selected from her four United Artists albums recorded in the early seventies Art of , the latest Previn compilation, represents a key era within her lengthy career but by no means reflects the full scope of her ‘art’. To do that would have to include her motion picture songs, recordings she made as Dory Langdon, latest work Planet Blue (download it here) and have some representation from her wider writing.
This particular portion of her artistic life places her in her early forties and follows her marriage to Andre Previn. These factors are influential in making her lyrics knowing, clever, sincere and unabashed. This is somewhat surprising as she intended for them to be performed by others. How she imagined others would interpret such cathartic pieces would be interesting to know.
Thankfully that never happened, instead we are left with a woman revealing herself through song in a way few have. Plainly sang with a narrative style each piece adds to our sum of knowledge regarding her life. Whether we are to take her literally as she sings of ‘Esther’s First Communion’ or being ‘With My Daddy In The Attic’ I do not know. They may be merely emblematic. Either way she was once one of music’s great storytellers.

MP3 Dory Previn - With My Daddy In The Attic

Mint Royale Mystery Solved

2007-12-10T12:47:00.000Z

An email has arrived telling us that one of the Mint Royale tracks on which the aforementioned Duffy sings is Little Words.

Not an easy track to get hold of but, thanks to the power of prayer, it landed on the Good Reverend's desktop this morning.

Here it is for you to enjoy.

MP3 Mint Royale - Little Words

Duffy - don't stop 'til you get enough

2007-11-28T11:18:00.000Z

I'm still trying to track down Duffy's contributions to Mint Royale's 2005 album 'See You In The Morning'. But until then here's a little more from the Welsh wizard. These clips feature her performance on Later. An interview can be seen here

Aimee Duffy

2007-11-25T20:49:00.000Z

As music bloggers we witter on a bit then suddenly you encounter, seemingly out of nowhere, a voice that just makes you shut up and listen.
If there is any justice Duffy will be huge. Here she is with Bernard Butler performing Syrup & Honey.

Her background is being airbrushed a little by a record company that probably don't see coming second in 2003 on 'Wawffactor', the Welsh version of X factor, as anything to shout about. I haven't tracked down any footage of the show but here she is singing in Welsh
MP3 Aimee Duffy - Cariad Dwinunig

A debut album is due next year. In the meantime here she is at her Dusty Springfield like best.

MP3 Duffy - Rockferry

A tour next February is eagerly awaited. In the meantime here she is performing Warwick Avenue at the Roisin Dubh in Galway (a great venue incidentally)

Review: Saba Anglana - Jidka (The Line)

2007-11-22T17:50:00.000Z

Jidka (The Line) is the debut of Somalian Saba. Born to an Italian father and Ethiopian mother her songs are full of stories representing the meeting of European and African cultures. Young women who leave their villages for the big city, the separation of fathers from their families, fear of change in a diverse world and the suffering of nations at the hands of others. Having written some of the lyrics with her mother there is a strong connection with her heritage whilst the musical flavour is a mélange of African rhythms and contemporary euro beats. Musicians from Cameroon, Senegal and Gabon bring differing sounds and languages to the mix. Increasing the sense of diverse identity which Saba herself feels and explores within her music. As such it could be easy for Jidka to lack cohesion but she draws the disparate elements together with an engaging vocal style that’s easy on the ear if a little over theatrical at times.
Given that she is known for her television acting career I can’t help feeling that, whilst important to her, a recording career is not top of Saba’s career path and as such the album lacks conviction. Given the lyrical subject matter this may sound odd. Time will tell if giving voice to her heritage is where her heart lays.

How Long has this been going on ?

2007-11-10T10:51:00.002Z

Back in the day a natural extension of loving The Flying Burritos was to like The Eagles. OK so they were a little ‘soft’ at times but their pedigree was good and there were some nifty vocals to enjoy. And it is these vocals that so disappoint me about there latest offering How Long. I say ‘latest’ but of course they used to play this song live thirty odd years ago.
I recall it having a tone of desolation, of longing, hope gone sour, a true poignancy. Now it is delivered with no sense anything. It’s just an anodyne vocal that makes me wonder how age, wealth, status etc. can diminish the expression of feeling. It’s just too comfortable by half.
Of course many successful vocalists have never been able to inject feeling into their songs. But Don, we expected so much more from anything you’re involved in.

Compare and contrast:-

MP3 ~~The Eagles - How Long, Live 1972~~
MP3 ~~The Eagles - How Long, 2007 style~~

From The Mental Aggravation To The Fun In Your Bed

2007-10-26T12:39:00.000Z

We have had an email from a parishioner who has asked for more Agony Column posts. In particular they would like to hear the wonderful All Worked Out . The Reverend Doctor seldom refuses a request and is happy to oblige however...

...the only version I have is recorded from the original 7 inch vinyl which, unfortunately, was once left on the window sill during evensong and got very bent. With the help of the weight of the Good Reverend's family bible and a period of silent prayer some of the wobbles have been repaired but it is not the best recording.

Still, here goes, and warps and all here it is.

MP3 Agony Column - All Worked Out

Review: Wade Bowen - Lost Hotel

2007-10-25T09:06:00.000Z

There seems to be a culture amongst music blogs that only eulogies are written. Despite the fact that we all hear plenty of stuff that we don't like and quickly consign to the rubbish bin. Such a moment happened recently when listening to Lost Hotel the new Wade Bowen album. It's only when listening to records such as this that you truly realise how short life is. Gone are 57 minutes that you will never get back. Mr Bowen has ‘died a thousand times’ and ‘stared down the barrel of a thousand loaded guns’. As if. Yet I know just how he feels. Every banal lyric, every hopelessly derivative tune, every Texan whine had me dying for the end of his turgid effort. I’m sure his efforts are heartfelt and reflect events in his own passage of time. Just please, please don’t bother again. He claims to be passionate about being “a genre-crossing artist” yet other than the gulf coast highway I cannot hear evidence he’s ever crossed anything. Perhaps he sums up his deficiencies better than I ever could when stating ‘I’m not as good as I advertise’. Ironically this insightful observation comes at the start of his best song ‘Walkin’ Along The Fenceline’. Sadly this decent effort is immediately followed by ‘Resurrection’ in which the aforementioned guns miss their target so that Wade can inform us ‘a broken heart is the only way to be free’. In the light of such an eternal truth need I say more.

'Life is a memory play'

2007-10-20T08:30:00.000Z

We Reverends have a long history of swapping tales back and forth regarding our gig going history. One will swear that the other was there. The other cannot recall events at all. Sometimes our memory plays tricks with us but generally our recall is accurate. Or so we believe as, in the words of Tennessee Willimas, life is a memory play and can be 'presented without the constraints of convention'. Memory becoming a place where we live. It is not just our past but our present and our future. A place in which we dream. And it is to these places that our conversations sometimes take us.

On the other hand Luis Bunuel, the Spanish film maker, would have it that our autobiographies are not an account of our lifes but an account of what we wish our life to have been.

Either way my dear friend William Grace is mistaken when he states that Hokey Pokey was the first Richard & Linda Thompson album that he bought as the year previously, 1974, he was kind enough to buy me I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight for my 17th birthday. I was ill in bed at the time of his visit and his kindness has never been forgotten. I still possess that vinyl along with the album he bought me the following year. Which I recall was.......

Incidentally our first siting of the great man in concert was at Leeds Town Hall (it was built before Leeds became a city) in November 1975. Mattacks, Pegg and Kirkpatrick joined Richard & Linda for a tense affair with Linda looking particularly uncomfortable.

Our journeys this last week may have taken us to different venues to see the latest RT tour but our collective memory is one of sheer disbelief at how stunning he remains. We are both of the opinion that these were the finest performances we had ever seen by Thompson in any guise, although I'm not sure our trip to Ilkley Town Hall counts in that description !!!!

Here's the evidence:-

My Mammy Told Me, Isabel, Now Don't Stay Out Too Late

2007-10-17T09:11:00.000Z

An overburdening of parochial duties has seen the Reverend Doctor's evangelical work somewhat ignored over the last month. However, a period of calm reflection and silent prayer has given renewed strength and we are ready, once again, to continue spreading the good word. As a first step along the path to righteousness I travel tonight to watch Richard Thompson at the Irish Centre in Leeds.

It is frightening to think that it is well over 30 years ago that I first saw Richard Thompson in concert when I went to see him and Linda at Leeds City Hall. I didn't know much about him then other than having heard Bright Lights Tonight on the radio - I was a bit too young for Fairport and folk-rock wasn't exactly considered hip at my school – but that night, a bond was forged. Over the intervening years Richard has consistently produced a series of fine albums and I, rather less consistently, have bought quite a lot of them.

His latest album, Sweet Warrior, is as good as it gets – incisive and inventive song writing combine with Thompson's impeccable guitar work and ever improving voice to produce an album that is passionate, honest, challenging and uplifting. Thompson's refusal, even after all these years, to become complacent about his music and his craft should be an inspiration to us all.

The first Richard Thompson album I bought was Hokey Pokey – it features The Egypt Room - still one of my favourite songs. I've never heard him play it live and I suspect he won't be doing it tonight but I'll let you know.

MP3 Richard and Linda Thompson - the Egypt Room

All Is Well

2007-09-16T15:18:00.000Z

A recent excerpt from the Reverend Doctor William Grace’s diary:-

Last Sunday I took a rare vacation from my spiritual duties for another higher calling. Running is like a religion to many and I am not immune to its pleasures. This occasion was however an altogether more poignant experience.

In the beautiful grounds of Alnwick Castle I participated in the annual Cancer Research UK 10k Race. The Lord blessed us with a cool day to keep the heat from our tired bodies, although a light sprinkling of his heavenly rain would not have gone amiss near the end.

Many participants were running in memory of those lost to cancer. Whilst others had overcome its ravages and were celebrating their lives whilst raising money for the charity. At the 8k stage I became extremely fatigued and drew upon the memory of loved ones and the words of Henry Scott Holland, Canon of St Pauls Cathedral 1847 – 1917

Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away into the next room. I am I, and you are you. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the easy way you always used. Put no difference into your tone, wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we always enjoyed together. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was, let it be spoken without effort, without the ghost of a shadow in it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was;there is unbroken continuity.
What is death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner.
All is well.
Nothing is past; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

It is some time since I entered a formal race and the temptation to continue my love affair with the road is a strong one. And as I would never say from a pulpit ‘what’s the point of temptation if you don’t give in to it’. Therefore I am considering taking part in the Great North Run later this month. One of my fellow participants, Wendy Hope, has advised me against such a course of action. She may well be right, but hark… I hear the road calling.

Review: Eilen Jewell - Sinners & Strangers

2007-09-15T10:59:00.000Z

Despite the excellence of Jewell’s second album with its refined songs, subtle musicianship and compelling vocal performances it will undoubtedly draw comparisons with Gillian Welch and Lucinda Williams. The implication being that ‘Sinners & Strangers’ is not the equal to those she is likened to. Nothing could be further from the truth as her blend of old time country, folk and blues elevates Jewell to being the equal of such esteemed company, no question.
From opener ‘Rich Man’s World’ through to ‘Blue Highway’ each song sways and twangs its way into a collective whole that marks this as one of the very best in the genre. Whilst the style may sound old her delivery is definitely contemporary with a cast of engaging characters brimming with energy whom she uses to conjure some great images. ‘Too Hot To Sleep’ has its lovers thinking ‘Let’s go upstairs and dance some more/The words left unsaid can be told in time’. Meanwhile an angry wife opines ‘I always said I’d be his slave/Before I would be his dog /But it looks like he’s got me rambling ‘round /And sleeping in a hollow log’. Such is the quality of her songwriting that these compositions sit easily alongside covers by Charlie Rich, Eric Anderson, Bob Dylan and the traditional ‘If You Catch Me Stealing’.
Although it sounds like it could have been written anytime in the last sixty years every whoop, holler and instrumental break gives testament to the loving care with which Eilen Jewell has created one of this years gems.

MP3 Eilen Jewell - Rich Man's World

Are You Looking At Me?

2007-09-13T12:13:00.000Z

Are You Lookin' At Me is Colin Hay's first studio album of new material in over five years and the former Men At Work front man has come up with a winning combination of finely crafted tunes. Hay's childhood years were spent in Scotland, before moving to Australia in his teens and finally, following the success of Men At Work, settling in the US. Are You Lookin' At Me sees Hay reflecting upon this journey, and upon life in general, on an album that is in turn personal, wry, amusing and moving.

The opening title track is perhaps the best example of Hay's song writing skills. What, at first, seems to be an autobiographical litany turns out to be something rather more. Hay takes his experiences and, avoiding the trap of sentimental nostalgia, reflects upon these in a mature and honest way. The song finishes with a positive and affirming message to us all that, no matter what life has been so far, new challenges and new adventures await and should be actively sought.

The whole album has an uncluttered feel that allows Hay's song writing skills and personal delivery to take centre stage. If, at times, this leaves some weaker lyrics a little over exposed it is, for the most part, exactly the right approach allowing songs like 'Up In Smoke' and the moving and quite exceptional 'Lonely Without You' to speak directly to the listener.

Are You Lookin' At Me sees Colin Hay in complete control of his craft and is a mature, personal collection of songs that simply sound better every time you listen to them.

MP3 Colin Hay - Up In Smoke

Procol Harum - Our Idols

2007-09-09T17:26:00.000Z

I have been trying to remember just when the Reverend Doctors took a trip to Nottingham for our first of many Procol Harum shows. It was either the 13th March 1975 or even earlier on 17th November 1973. Either way it was a wonderful night with the performance, if not the date, still vivid in our memories. Support came from Hatfield & The North who were memorably if only for their road sign name. In the intervening years there have been a good number of Procol Harum compilations. The Latest, Secrets Of The Hive, features thirty-five tracks covering the twelve album, four decade history of what was once one of the UK’s finest bands. Early recordings as The Paramounts are not included so matters kick of with their big payday ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’. Subsequently covered by almost a thousand artists it still sounds as majestic as ever. Equally successful at the time was ‘Homburg’ their second Top 10 hit which follows the same formula but lacks the ethereal quality of its predecessor. Strangely this kicks off Disc 2 as each disc follows its own chronology with tracks from subsequent albums being split between the two. This approach fails to deliver a sense of the bands development and is an annoying feature of an otherwise satisfying overview of their career.

Their place in the development of 70’s progressive rock becomes obvious with ‘A Salty Dog’, the third and final album with the original line-up. Matthew Fisher’s Hammond organ, Gary Brooker’s bluesy vocals, Robin Trower’s barely restrained Hendrix fixation all wedded to lyricist Keith Reid’s surreal imagery became the benchmark for a generation of bands. Genesis in particular seeming to draw from the bands influence.

A reworked ‘Conquistador’ proved the highlight of 72’s ‘Live With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’. This surprise hit was a career highlight and marked the final departure from flower power-pop to a much more dramatic era for the bands music. ‘Exotic Birds And Fruit’ being packed with concert friendly material and is represented by four stand outs including the venomous ‘As Strong As Samson’.

Further examples of why they hold such a seminal status include ‘Grand Hotel’, ‘The Idol’, ‘Whaling Stories’ and so, so much more. Whilst inclusions from 2003’s ‘Well’s On Fire’ offers nothing to the legacy this remains a fine, if not definitive, retrospective.

MP3 Procol Harum - Grand Hotel

Eric's Richard & Simon's Trip

2007-09-05T19:37:00.000Z

The second staff outing of the year saw us reliving our fast fading youth with a first visit to London together in twenty years. It takes a lot to get us anywhere near our capital city but the latest in the Don’t Look Back series was to feature a seminal moment, if not in the bands career, then certainly in our collective gig going.

The band in question being Sonic Youth who were to perform Daydream Nation at the Roundhouse. In advance of their three sold out nights the venues website claimed that ‘they put the noise back in rock n’roll’. Anyone whoever saw Tools You Can Trust may disagree with that statement. What, no gas cylinders for percussion, that’s not real avant-garde rock.

Having first heard Daydream Nation on their 1989 UK tour our devotion was assured. Though there has always been a note of disagreement in that one of us believes Mudhoney were better that night. That may have been true and they too have certainly endured to produce some great records. But damn it all they didn’t play their guitars with drum sticks, ergo – no competition. And whilst subsequent Youth shows were better performances the impact of that first occasion has never been surpassed.

All of this meant that this particular show was something very special for us. We were not disappointed. From Thurston’s casual introduction to Teenage Riot through to Kim Gordon’s wild Debbie Harry impersonation they re-inforced their place as one of rocks epic bands.
Highlights. There were non. The entire album being performed to an exhilarating standard. Their trademark guitar thrashing/lashing/abuse and use of howling feedback no longer shocks. Instead it is received warmly, embraced as keenly as Lee Renaldo's occasional forays into providing a tune that that we can all hum along to.

As they say here in Geordie land, ‘purely belter’.

And for those of you who couldn’t make sense of that video clip here is the solution:-

Sxx(w)= No/2

Review: King Wilkie - Low Country Suite

2007-08-27T18:46:00.000Z

Low Country Suite is something of a surprise after their first album Broke which was pure bluegrass. Gone are the driving fiddles and in their place a more introspective sound closer to the darker side of alt-country mixed up with some late 60’s country rock. Their blend of folk, bluegrass and country has been heard many, many times. It is familiar and unchallenging yet this does not condemn it but merely makes it a greater challenge for King Wilkie to avoid the boredom that accompanies the familiar.

Principal songwriters Reid Burgess and Ted Pitney meet this challenge with mature, introspective songs as dark as Nick Cave and as downbeat as Nick Drake. Burgess sharing most of the vocal duties with guitarist John McDonald. Their close harmonies are never flashy and recall popular early duets from the Delmore Brothers through to the Louvins. Meanwhile the band retains the standard bluegrass instrumentation whilst broadening a sound that echoes the Burritos country-tonk style.

Apart from a couple of bluegrass stompers, notably ‘Wrecking Ball’, the tempos remain at the slow to maudlin end of the scale implying sadness but lacking the sparse beauty of the very best melancholic records. A few rough edges to the pristine production would also have aided the sense that King Wilkie are true contenders and not extremely polished pretenders. Ultimately Low Country Suite is frustrating. It could have been magnificent. Instead it is merely beautiful.
MP3 King Wilkie - Rockabye

Honky Tonkitis In Your Soul

2007-08-23T14:29:00.000Z

Welcome to the first in an occasional One Lonely Horn series where the Reverend Doctor digs deep into his vinyl collection and digitalises an obscure delight for you to download and enjoy.

Our first offering is this 1980 masterpiece from those much ignored giants of country music, Carl and Pearl Butler. If Carl and Pearl had a heyday it was long since gone when they entered Hilltop Studios to lay down the tracks for this LP. Consisting of re-workings of some of their older songs, country blues standards and, frankly, some obscure oddities, 'Honky-Tonkitis' surprised nobody by neither setting the charts alight nor reigniting Carl and Pearl's flagging career.

For all that it is a record that I have come to love and I hope that you will come to love it too. The title track rollocks along in great foot tapping Honky Tonk style and songs like 'Mrs Rights Divorcing Mr Wrong' contain truths that few of us can fail to identify with.

The record does raise one key question however, namely what exactly it is that Pearl does. She can be heard faintly trilling away in the background on 'If Teardrops Were Pennies' but, to be honest, that's about it. For the most part it is Carl who drives things forward producing vocal performances that, for a man of his advancing years, do him proud.

Pearl died in 1989 aged 61, Carl following a few years later. They were never destined to be up there with Tammy and George and Dolly and Porter, they were just honest musicians who knew how to belt out a good tune. Sometimes that's enough.

Download Honky Tonkitis Here

Joe Henry

2007-08-06T19:08:00.000Z

Henry’s work has always been enjoyable but has failed to ascend to the level of essential. Worthy rather than weighty. Indeed his work as a producer has often overshadowed his own efforts. His latest, ‘Civilians’, fails to buck the trend with another solid collection of songs he describes as “more emotionally political than topically so”. The prime example of this falls in the centre of the album and the mood emanates out from there. ‘Our Song’ finds Henry encountering baseball icon Willie Mays at an Arizona DIY store. The dialogue becomes a commentary on the contradictory nature of America today. Self righteous, pushy, falling out of love with itself.

The process of writing he states “is the process of discovering what I’m writing about”. What this seems to be is his emotional response to the internal conflicts afflicting his nation. The style is direct with subtle accompaniment that rewards close attention, although some bigger tunes wouldn’t have hurt. With a band including from Bill Frisell, Greg Leisz and Van Dyke Parks, notably on ‘I Will Write My Book’, the music was always going to be classy rather than clamorous. A pity since, as a songwriter, he has more to say than many who shout louder and hence get more attention.

Betty LaVette - her very own CSI

2007-08-06T18:38:00.000Z

The crime in question being the decision by Atlantic Records in 1972 to shelve LaVette’s ‘Child Of The Seventies’ album. The scene, to which she returns, is the famous Muscle Shoals FAME studio, birthplace to some of soul music’s greatest moments.

In the company of the finest Southern rock band of their generation, the Drive-By Truckers, LaVette recorded 'The Scene Of The Crime', a tour-de force of intense, blunt, aggressive soul singing to match anything being produced in the genre today. Full of volatile performances the emotional depth cements her place as a soul diva of the highest order.

The brittle interpretation of Willie Nelson’s ‘Somebody Pick Up My Pieces’ encapsulates the hurt, fury almost, that pours from her mouth. This emotional intensity is matched time and again as she reviews her life in ‘Choices’, grapples with demons in ‘Jealousy’ or questions her decision making in an emotive take on Ray Charles ‘They Call It Love’. Great as all these are the album’s centre is the truly strange reworking of Elton John’s ‘Talking Old Soldiers’ which becomes a personal statement of defiance in the face of indifference from the music industry.
With the focus being on LaVette’s magnificent voice it’s easy to overlook the contribution of the Truckers whose southern-fried boogie perfectly matches the mood and arguably raises their profile as the true heirs to The Band’s legacy more than any of their own recordings. The band also provide a link to LaVette’s original Muscle Shoals recordings with bassist David Hood, father of the bands co-founder Patterson Hood, being a member of the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.
But its undeniably Lavette’s show and no-one is going to deny her this time around.

Diana Jones v Nanci Griffith

2007-07-28T15:16:00.000Z

This weekend sees the first ‘One Lonely Horn’ staff outing of the year with both Reverend Doctors taking our younger brethren to see the Arctic Monkeys.
This comes in the midst of one of those busy weekends that stresses us older concert goers. Pacing yourself, and taking time off work, is crucial.
Thursday night saw Diana Jones bring her wonderful songs to the delightful Little Theatre in Gateshead. With only about 50 people attending it was an intimate affair which only added to the sense of occasion.

However it was not until last night that the true impact of Ms Jones’s performance hit home. For it was whilst being lulled to sleep by Nanci Griffith’s anodyne performance that it truly dawned how magical Ms Jones had been. It was not always thus and as I stifled another yawn I recalled a trip we made twenty years ago to see Nanci’s first London shows (her first UK show having come the previous year). A local hero of ours, Brendan Croker, provided enthusiastic support. Rumour had it that he had sought the slot as the only way of getting in. Certainly there was a big buzz about the event with Nanci being holed up for three nights in the back room of the dingy Mean Fiddler pub. The Butthole Surfers were thrashing it out in the large room next door and on any other occasion this might have enticed us but we knew we were in the presence of an emerging star and were not tempted.Perhaps the most riveting moment was an incendiary version of ‘Ford Econoline’, sang with all the anger and sense of overwhelming relief felt by its protagonist. Twenty years on and Nanci rattles it out without investing it with any fervour whatsoever. And that’s the problem, she no longer has to convince us of her talent. Her audience has become lazy and she with it. Oh for the days when Phillip Donnelly drove the Blue Moon Orchestra.

The show features many old favourites Speed of Loneliness, Five & Dime, Late Night Grand Hotel, Across The Great Divide, It’s a Hard Life Wherever You Go, Listen To The Radio and of course the cringe inducing From A Distance. This last song being one of my all time bugbears. Despite its many versions I have yet to hear it sang with the interpretation I wish for. ‘God is watching us/ From a distance’, sure he/she is. Not getting any hands dirty. Not getting stuck in and sorting the sorry mess out.

Today brings Richmond Fontaine to town playing alongside the River Tyne on a beautiful sunny afternoon. It will be good practice for these tired legs before we face those cheeky Monkeys.

4 Meaningless Lists

2007-07-21T13:32:00.001Z

I was reading this article about how to get more traffic to your blog. Number one was ‘use lists’. Being a succor for lists myself I thought ‘great, I’ll compose a few lists and all will be well’. Nowhere on these lists do the Reverend Doctors all-time favourite albums appear. That would be far too easy and revealing.
So here goes:-

10 Favourite albums from the top row of my CD storage

David Ackles – American Gothic
Terry Allen – Lubbock (on everything)
Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am
Count Basie – Atomic Basie
Gregson & Collister – Home and Away
Emmylou Harris – Luxury Liner
Robin Holcomb – Robin Holcomb
Wilco – Being There
Yabby You – Jesus Dread 1972-1977
Whiskeytown – Rural Free Delivery

Albums I’m proud I NEVER bought

Pink Floyd – Dark Side Of The Moon
Nirvana – Nevermind
The Beatles – everything they ever did
Oasis – Definitely Maybe
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet
Meat Loaf – Bat Out Of Hell
Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms

The 10 best nights at the Riverside Club in Newcastle

Jonathan Richman, January 18th 1988
The Pixies, April 27th 1988 (supporting Throwing Muses)
Sonic Youth, March 17th 1989 (Mudhoney supporting)
Nanci Griffith, April 11th 1988
Young Gods, April 29th, 1990
Thomas Mapfumo, June 7th 1990
Husker Du , March 13th 1986
Ted Hawkins, June 18th 1986
Richard Thompson, January 12th 1988
Mercury Rev, November 25th 1991

10 Albums I never listen to but could never part with

Coupe Cloue – Racine (R.Francis Entertainment)
Thelonious Monk – Monks Music (OJC)
Mathilde Santing – Out Of This Dream (WEA)
Harlan Howard – sings Harlan Howard (Stetson)
Kimmie Rhodes – Man in The Moon (Heartland)
Jake Thackray – and songs (Dingle’s)
Ikhwani Safaa Musical Club – Music of Zanzibar (Globestyle)
Bette Midler– The Divine Miss M (Atlantic)
The Kentucky Colonels – Appalachian Swing (Rounder)
Donnisulana – Per Agata (Silex)

And here is a small selection from the above
MP3 ~~Gregson & Collister: Home Is Where The Heart Is~~
MP3 ~~Jake Thackray: The Castleford Ladies Magic Circle~~

Paul Curreri - A Man Alone

2007-07-19T17:34:00.002Z

Ever since writing about Curreri's wife, Devon Sproule, I've felt I should redress the balance and give the guy his own post. Just as some other, more real Reverend, has joined them together I too always think of them as a couple. Yet both enjoy successful careers independently.

Perhaps if he hadn't named his second album 'Songs For Devon Sproule' it would be easier to seperate the two of them. Recorded in 2003 with the aid of Kelly Joe Phelps it’s Curreri at his simplest. The couple later married and have recorded four albums together which can be downloaded for free via his website.

Meanwhile ‘Velvet Rut’ is Curreri’s fifth in his own right and sees his songwriting hitting some great peaks that match his excellent country blues guitar picking. Whilst its predecessors were full of solid tunes with some clever lyrics ‘Velvet Rut’ raises the bar considerably with a bunch of darker, brooding songs. Opener ‘Mantra’ is by no means the standout but it sets the marker with a great sense of malevolence as the fuzzy vocals spit out a tale on the edge of sanity. The usual finger picking style giving way to an equally ‘on the edge’ thrash of sound. Order is restored by the time ‘A Song On Robbing’ rolls into view. Those Phelps influences are to the fore as a sweeping guitar line buoys a joyous vocal ending with the killer line ‘between waking up and laying down, that’s a nasty gap’. Such lyrical gems abound although quite what they suggest is often uncertain as they are hidden amongst crazy tales too hard to decipher. What, for instance, is the back story behind ‘Patti Smith kiss my ass and die. If you can’t make beautiful Patti, make nice’.
Whilst we await Patti’s response there are many more intangible lyrics and wonderfully dexterous guitar parts to enjoy with as you settle into your own velvet rut.

MP3 ~~Paul Curreri: A Song On Robbing~~

GOD

2007-07-19T13:09:00.001Z

Whether God has played a big part in my life is debatable. Though there was a time when GOD haunted my turntable and I proclaimed his greatness to everyone!

In the late eighties, before we were married, Karen spent a few months travelling around Australia, including a few months in Melbourne. Now Karen has never been one for divining the latest musical trends and even up close and personal the hottest band in town completely passed her by. Fortunately reviews in a local music magazine that she sent alerted me to GOD’s presence amongst us.

In this incarnation GOD’s members were four young men, only 16 or 17, who had just released their first 7” ‘My Pal’. It is a phenomenal tune bursting with ferocious energy. Such fearless performances often accompany youth and yet can be tinged with the lack of certainty that plagues teenage years. Hence lines like ‘you’re my only friend/you don’t even like me’ are not so much sang as hurled at their audience.
GOD’s stay on this earth was a short one with the band splitting after two years having made just a handful of records, some of which are still available here.
Two of the band have subsequently died. And whilst death becomes no-one their legacy continues to bring a teenage skip to my aching bones.

MP3 ~~GOD: My Pal~~

The Hold Steady - Live In Leeds

2007-07-11T11:22:00.000Z

I took a rare break from ecumenical duties last night and paid a visit to the neighbouring parish of Leeds to enjoy a couple of hours in the company of Minneapolis’s finest, The Hold Steady.

Coming to the end of a fairly intensive touring schedule, the band, as you would expect, are in fine shape appearing confident and relaxed and as tight as a nut on a rusty truck. Drawing heavily on material from their 2006 release, Boys And Girls In America, The Hold Steady paint a vivid picture of a world where girls grow up too quickly, boys are manipulative, manipulated and lost, and drugs are the adhesive that holds the whole thing tentatively together.

Highlights included Chips Ahoy, a song that catalogues the chemical repercussions on a relationship that follow a win on the horses, You Can Make Him Like You, which made much more sense to me live than to does on record and Party Pit - “gonna walk around and drink some more, gonna walk around and drink” – we’ve all been there.

The Hold Steady have been described as ‘the bar band you’ve always wanted to see’ but they are much more than that. Craig Finn is an engaging and involving front man who, whilst not possessing the greatest voice you’ve ever heard, imbues its limitations with warmth and passion. Tad Kubler makes his guitar sound exactly as a guitar should sound and the rhythm section of Galen Polivka and Bobby Drake hold the whole sound together and drive it ever forward. What I liked most however, was the way in which the keyboards of Franz Nicolay are allowed the space to add colour and contrast to the music rather than being used as mere padding.

At the end of a relatively short set the packed crowd were completely convinced and were left with the distinct feeling that here is a band destined for bigger things. Bigger, however, is not necessarily better. The Cockpit is small and sweaty, and the venue and The Hold Steady could have been made for each other. Translating the intimacy of their performance here to larger, more souless spaces could well be the band’s next big challenge.

MP3 The Hold Steady: Stuck Between Stations (Live)

Devon Sproule

2007-07-07T17:54:00.001Z

Cornish Pasties, Yorkshire Pudding, Welsh Rarebit, Chelsea Buns and now Devon Sproule. It’s a delicacy we’ve tasted twice this year already here in the North East as she totes her old guitar around bashing out folk, blues, bluegrass, jazz and swing. Her fourth album ‘Keep Your Silver Shined’ continues the stylings of ‘Upstate Songs’ and is a further step away from ‘Long Sleeve Story’, an album it is hard to believe was recorded by the same person. Infectious melodies have always been present but now her personality is more to the fore and at last you get the felling she is making the music she was born to.

Whilst her solo career is in the ascendancy let’s not forget that she has a four duet albums recorded with husband Paul Curreri. Mostly covers they are basic down-home recordings with a wonderful freshness to them. Even better is that they can all be downloaded for free here.

Sproule tours the UK again in August/September. The Reverend Doctor will attend the Newcastle show and is very much looking forward to another helping.

MP3 ~~Devon Sproule & Paul Curreri: I'm On Fire~~
MP3 ~~Devon Sproule & Paul Curreri: Honky Tonkin'~~
MP3 ~~Devon Sproule: Old Virginia Block~~

Happy Birthday To You

2007-07-05T13:01:00.001Z

I will let you into a little secret. There are two Reverend Doctors. We are both very old but one is older than the other. Today - 05 July 2007 - sees the first of us hit our 50th birthday.

We've stayed friends for a long long time - since our early teens - and have shared a lot over the years. It has been, without doubt, a friendship cemented together by a love of music and, in many ways, this blog is a celebration of that.

Despite all the nonsense about age being only a number turning 50 does seem a bit of a milestone. When you are young you imagine that when you reach such a venerable age that your life will be sorted. Oh, the naivety of youth. You've still got the same hopes, the same fears but now they are compounded by the fact that you've less time left to get things right. But hey, let's be positive!

So take me down to your dance floor
And I wont mind the people when they stare
Paint a different color on your front door
And tomorrow we will still be there

From one Reverend Doctor to another, Happy Birthday

MP3 ~~Ryan Adams: To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)~~
MP3 ~~Willie Nelson: Funny How Time Slips Away~~
MP3 ~~Garth Brooks: Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)~~
MP3 ~~Paul Simon: Still Crazy After All These Years~~
MP3 ~~The Band (with Bob Dylan): Forever Young~~

Sara Borges And The Broken Singles

2007-06-24T09:23:00.000Z

In true Rufus Thomas style I listen to most of my music whilst walking the dog. A sure sign that I like something is that my gait will change from a trudge to a bounce, my fingers will start clicking and, just occasionally, I will start singing along. The poor dog does not know where to look. I've just returned from my evening stroll around the Yorkshire badlands and the sound of Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles has had just such an effect.

When your own website identifies your influences as including the likes of Bob Wills and Merle Haggard you know that there is going to be the occasional hint of country twang in the music. Sarah Borges does not disappoint on this score, but the sharpness of guitarist Mike Castellana's playing and the openness and honesty of the lyrics and vocals bring a vitality and immediacy to the proceedings.

The band's second album, Diamonds In The Dark, is out now on the Sugar Hill label. They have been compared to Lone Justice but, if comparisons are needed, remind me of Tin Star (largely forgotten LA country from the 80s) whose recordings were darker, edgier and ultimately more enduring.

You get the feeling that Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles will be just great live and they seem to tour regularly in the States. If they ever manage to get across to the UK I'll definitely be organising a church outing. Probably leave the dog at home though.

MP3 Sara Borges And The Broken Singles: The Day We Met

Kendel Carson

2007-06-17T10:58:00.001Z

Having Chip Taylor write your first album is quite a coup. The pair first met at the Canmore Folk Festival in Carson’s native Alberta and ultimately led to a frenetic fortnight in New York during which ‘Rearview Mirror Tears’ was made. This was no flash in the pan as the young fiddler has been a professional musician for ten years including time with Canada’s National Youth Orchestra before hitting the road with umpteen bands, most recently with those stalwarts of the Canadian folk scene The Paperboys.
As expected then this is a strong collection with Carson’s tough voice clearly reveling in the gems Taylor has provided. Her convincing performances indicating that should she continue to attract such high quality material her future is assured. She co-writes two tracks including the albums defining moment ‘Ribbons & Bows’, one of those heartbreaking stories you just hope isn’t true.
Thankfully there are lighter moments of which ‘Big Trucks’ is a favourite with its dumb but still somehow glorious chorus ‘I like trucks. Big trucks’. Sing it loud.
A bonus disc contains two further songs recorded later that they felt did not fit the mood of the main album. It includes ‘There’s No Angel On My Shoulder’. A song Taylor wrote 40 years ago and on which Carson allows herself to slow down and display an expressive side to her vocals not previously evident.
Whilst this debut isn’t going to win any awards there is strong feeling that we are going to be hearing a lot more from this young Canadian in the years to come.

MP3 ~~Kendel Carson: I Like Trucks~~

Young Marble Giants

2007-06-16T16:23:00.000Z

Colossal Youth has appeared before in various guises. This time around we get the original album on one disc with a collection of the Testcard EP, Final Day single and Salad Days album compiled on an additional disc. Given their recent reformation to play live for the first time in 27 years the timing seems entirely apposite.
On its original release in 1980, at a time when the term lo-fi had not yet been coined, it appeared quaint and eccentric. Experimental even. Their signature tune ‘Searching For Mr Right’ gets things going with its insistent rhythm akin to a train rattling over the points whilst Alison Statton’s precious vocals tell an impenetrable tale. And that’s pretty much the formula as the Cardiff three piece rattle off a quick fire selection of quiet, studied songs that were the very antithesis of the times. The very quietness of it all appearing radical after the do-it-yourself brashness of punk.

So, have the years been kind to YMG? The refreshing contrast they provided is obviously no longer there. Stuart Moxham’s later work saw to that. Whilst a plethora of monotone female vocalists have dulled the appetite for Statton’s voice. These irritations however should not detract from the fact that ‘Colossal youth’ played an important role in defining post-punk and in ‘Wurlitzer Jukebox’ and ‘Brand-New-Life’ they produced music with a purity that still startles.

eFolkMusic - Spreading The Word

2007-06-13T11:21:00.000Z

If you are looking for new sounds (and I suspect that you would not be reading this if you were not) the eFolkMusic site is always worth a browse.

eFolkMusic is non-profit organisation whose aim is to promote contemporary folk music around the world. The site is rich in downloads ranging from individual mp3s to complete digital albums. To access the full range of material you do need to pay a modest joining free but there is plenty of free stuff as well.

Go to the site now and you can download a ten track sampler from a range of artists including a great track from Pete Morton.

For your listening pleasure there is a link below to a track from Jason Bennett. Not someone who I was previously familiar with but anyone who can come up with lines like "It must be getting late. My train's already gone. I got a two dollar ticket to nowhere and my life's a Dylan song" is surely worth a listen.

MP3 Jason Bennett: Stormy Weather Coming Down

Marc Broussard - Sending Out An SOS

2007-06-07T15:41:00.000Z

The wires that run under the Atlantic Ocean have brought news from one of our New World Brethren. They ask that the Good Reverend brings the new release from Marc Broussard to the attention of our band of believers. The Reverend Doctor is, as always, happy to oblige.

Marc is a singer-songwriter who hails from Louisiana. His style is described as ‘Bayou Soul’ – whatever that might mean – but what is certain is that he has a great voice that makes the stereo speakers bristle with warmth, passion and soul.

Unlike his previous releases, which consisted mainly of self-penned numbers, Marc’s latest offering - SOS: Save Our Soul - is chock-a-block full of Motown and Stax covers that provide the perfect vehicle for Marc’s vocal talents. The album, out now on Vanguard records, features just one original - Come In From The Cold - and a great version of our fellow God botherer The Reverend Al Green’s Love And Happiness.

For more details on Marc and his music pop along to his myspace site – don’t forget to come back though.

Nashville Reflections

2007-06-05T17:45:00.000Z

Recent postings about Ronee Blakley have set my mind thinking about Robert Altman’s Nashville. Its central theme (as far as I could understand) is the conflicts caused when honesty, cynicism and corruption collide and Altman expertly explores the way that this impacts on political, professional and personal lives. The film is moving, funny, shocking, sad and heart-warming in equal measure.

What’s more it has a great soundtrack. Members of the cast were encouraged to write there own songs for the film – Keith Carradine won the best song Oscar for I’m Easy - and, rather than forming a mere backdrop to the on-screen action, they provide the film with an extra emotional layer.

Ronee, incidentally, has her own myspace site, has some gigs lined up and has new material recorded. Click here to visit.

Below are two songs from the Nashville soundtrack for your listening pleasure: Karen Black's Memphis and the wonderful awfulness of Henry Gibson's For The Sake Of The Children. Enjoy.

MP3 Karen Black: Memphis
MP3 Henry Gibson: For The Sake Of The Children

Missing Person - An Unexpected Sighting

2007-06-05T11:31:00.000Z

Following evensong last Sunday the Good Reverend settled down with a small glass of port and allowed the anodyne nonsense of Midsomer Murders to ease him into a state of mindless bliss.

Mid way through the programme a familiar face and voice robbed me of my rest. There on the screen, playing the small but crucial part of 'Hotel Manager', was none other than Malcolm Raeburn ex lead singer of the much ignored but glorious Agony Column.

As readers of this blog will know, part of the Reverend Doctor's missionary work is to raise this bands profile and bring their modest body of work to the wider world's attention. To this end we are planning our first ever 'One Lonely Horn' live event and have invited Agony Column to be the star attraction.

As the band ceased to exist many years ago there is little chance of this happening but, you never know. We have sent an email to a Malcolm Raeburn - it may not be the right one - and are eagerly waiting a reply.

Watch this space, as they say.

MP3 Agony Column: Missing Person

Hymns Ancient And Modern

2007-05-17T14:26:00.000Z

In preparation for my Sunday morning stroll to the chapel I had randomly thrown some tunes together on my little MP3 player. Through pure happenstance the two tunes below found themselves next to each other on the play list.

Nearly thirty-five years and many thousands of miles separate them and yet they share a lot of common ground. Firstly, they both sound better with the volume turned up, secondly they are both played by tight, bluesy, sympathetic musicians and thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, you just know that your mother would not like them.

The Hold Steady are from Brooklyn via Minneapolis and their latest album, Boys And Girls In America, is a joy. Sharks were a British group from the early 70’s who featured Andy Fraser (ex Free) on bass along with well-respected session man, Chris Spedding, on guitar.

What’s the point of this post? Perhaps simply that whatever happens in a thirty-five year period good music remains a constant and we should be thankful for that.

MP3 Sharks: Doctor Love
MP3 The Hold Steady: Hot Soft Light

Swansong

2007-05-17T10:33:00.001Z

Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer died in 2005 after finding international acclaim late in life through his association with the Buena Vista Social Club. After being coaxed out of retirement at the age of 69 his contributions to that album, including the bolero ‘Dos Gardenias’, were amongst its highlights. It is to the bolero that he returned for Mi Sueno, his final recordings, in the company of a small group featuring fabulous pianist Roberto Fonseca, guitarist Manuel Galban and BVSC bassist Cachaito Lopez. Being nearly 80 his voice is not the thing of wonder it once was (check out his 1950’s recordings with Chepin y Su Orquesta Oriental to hear him at his stunning best) but is still capable of maintaining its tone though without the richness it once had. In some ways that improves these love songs as he draws upon life experience to imbue the songs with such tenderness. The arrangements are often sparse and delicate which accentuates the feeling of intimacy his voice generates. There is also a bittersweet quality to these romantic ballads, particularly on ‘Cada Noche Un Amor’ and the duet with Omar Portuondo ‘Quizas, Quizas’ which has a particularly vulnerable air. Indeed it is the frailty of his voice that adds so much to this charming and poignant farewell to a wonderful career.
MP3 ~~Ibrahim Ferrer: Alma Libre~~

Michael J Sheehy - Dreaming of Ghosts

2007-05-06T16:07:00.000Z

Sheehy’s previous work has included three albums as leader of Dream City Fan Club and three as a solo artist but it was not until hearing his contribution to the American TV drama ‘Deadwood’ that I started to take notice. His skill for melancholic tales with a distinctly debauched edge perfectly suited the programmes themes. That quality runs through the core of Ghost On The Motorway his first album in five years. Musically he evokes reminders of Nick Cave and Tom Waits without quite reaching their heights. Although either would be pleased to tell the dark tales herein as we follow the journey of a lost soul battling his demons whilst trying to side-step the grim reaper. Near fatal incidents occur along the way as ‘late on night in New Orleans, I got disemboweled by a U.S. marine’. Surviving this encounter goes one better than the ‘Ghost On The Motorway’ whose ‘crimson spots spatter the shattered glass’, one more soul who will ‘never find a way back home’. This dark journey is accompanied by gospel blues, stax-like horns and bluegrass banjos all played with a world-weary air. You will have deduced that this is no easy going affair. The listener has to commit some dark hours and engage with the downbeat mood to reap the most from this dour collection.

MP3 Michael J Sheehy: Ghost On The Motorway

Ronee Blakley - From Caldwell to Bradford

2007-04-29T17:53:00.000Z

The Reverend Doctor has many spiritual homes. Yorkshire, his birthplace, may hold that special place that will forever be Heaven but a small part of his heart has always resided in Idaho. Caldwell, Idaho to be precise. Birthplace of Ronee Blakley, who along with Mary Margaret O’Hara, has an almost perfect recording career. Her eponymous debut surfaced in 1972 with nary a whisper of criticism nor approval and whilst it is pleasant enough it was with her second and final album ‘Welcome’ in 1975 that her voice found it’s poetic metre to produce as glorious a country album as has ever graced the genre. ‘Idaho Home’ and ‘Tapedeck’ from the album feature in Robert Altman’s seminal Nashville in which Blakley plays country superstar Barbara Jean. A role for which she received an Academy Award nomination. Of her subsequent movie appearances perhaps the most notable was as Sarah in the sprawling mess that was Renaldo & Clara. Filmed during Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue of 1975. After dropping out of sight for many a long year there was a rare live appearance late last year and an interview in which she claimed to have ‘lots of new songs’ has raised hopes of a follow up some thity-odd years after her country classic. In anticipation let us all raise our hymnals and sing-a-long with her angelic voice.
MP3 Ronee Blakley: Just Like A Woman
MP3 Ronee Blakley: Idaho Home
MP3 Ronee Blakley: Need A New Sun Rising

Rosie Thomas - Not The One I Love (that's Karen)

2007-04-29T14:55:00.000Z

What makes this, Thomas’s fourth, her best yet is the sense of identity that comes from including the banter between herself, Sufjan Stevens and Denison Witmer with whom she made these recordings around the kitchen table in Stevens Brooklyn apartment. Previous outings were too precious by half, suffering from the folksy neurosis beloved of tiresome singer-songwriters. Not that the material differs substantially with folkie ballads being standard. Examples of her approach never being clearer than on covers of R.E.M.’s ‘The One I Love’ and Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Songbird’. Each is playfully understated with her fragile voice used to great effect as the former is stripped of its ironic twist and the latter sounding painfully authentic. These interpretations display what she is capable of given the right material and people around her. Of her own material ‘Kite Song’ is her strongest yet. Pure Blue-era Joni in its simple plaintive imagery ‘Tie me to the end of a kite/Every time the wind blows stronger I feel my spirit rise’. Thomas has a reputation for having a fearsome wit which has led her to performing as stand-up alter-ego Sheila Saputo, a hapless pizza delivery woman wearing an arm-sling and neck-brace. Quite how someone who can write such good songs and has such a strange character in her kitbag has previously managed to register so little of her personality within her work is beyond me
MP3 Rosie Thomas: The One I Love

Kamikaze Hearts

2007-04-22T18:05:00.001Z

Having been together seven years and now releasing their fifth album it is totally beyond me how these five bearded blokes from upstate New York have stayed under the radar so long. Rarely do you hear something new which demands that you own everything they have previously done, such is the freshness with which ‘Oneida Road’ assaults the ears. Not that this is a ‘new’ sound by any means. The reference points are abundant – Midlake, My Morning Jacket, Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Young, Clem Snide and more. Like discovering a lost 70’s classic with an abundance of uplifting melodies every song brings a smile, even if the poetic lyrics are gloomy. Their sound is predominantly driven by mandolin and banjos with layers of violin and guitars being topped off by bluegrass style harmonies. And such is their obvious joy in making music that right from opener ‘Top Of Your Head’, a road song chronicling fractious times, the mood is upbeat. Even ‘No One Called you A Failure’, another road song, with its unhappy tale of bickering cannot fail to raise the spirit. The exception being the fascinating ‘Guyana Central High School Class of ‘78’ a mandolin led epic which takes some deciphering. My guess being that it’s about the Jonestown Kool-Aid mass murder. The piece closes with a four minute fade that is pure musical theatre. It’s a magnificent end to an extremely entertaining album. Step over Wilco there are new kids on the block.
MP3 ~~The Kamikaze Hearts: No One Called You A Failure~~

Church Notices:The Over 60's Club

2007-04-14T19:35:00.001Z

The following is an extract taken from the Reverend Doctors recent Church Notices:-
The Parish Hall, now in its twelfth year, has recently hosted two distinguished visitors to the Over 60’s club. These esteemed visitors attracted many parishioners who do not usually venture out of an evening. It was good to be in the company of so many old and good friends. We were honoured by a rare visit from one of our American brethren Ms Dolly Rebecca Parton who brought us some amusing tales from her childhood days in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, which those of you in our Senior Citizens Walking Club will know forms part of southern Appalachian Mountains. The Church Council has subsequently received many requests to reciprocate with our own visit to Ms Parton’s birthplace to include a trip to her own palace of pleasure Dollywood. Mrs Armitage, the caretakers wife, who lives two doors down from the hall expressed the view that Ms Partons delightful singing teetered between the wonderful and the bizarre and in her usual cheeky fashion wondered if the song ‘Grass Is Blue’ contained a subversive message for us all. My personal favourite was a sweet song about a ‘Little Sparrow’. As those of you who have visited the vicarage lately will know the plight of our feathered friends has become a subject close to my heart of late. On a related note Ms Parton gave us a rendition of The Byrds ‘Turn Turn Turn’ with its wonderful reminder that ‘To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven’. To which we all say Amen.
Our other sexagenarian visitor also hailed from America. Mr. Robert Allen Zimmerman is a sprightly 65 years old from Minnesota who we have had the good fortune to welcome to our parish before. On this occasion his ‘set’ reminded us all that ‘age cannot wither nor custom stale infinite variety’ to paraphrase the great bard. Such was the enthusiasm that he rendered his latest offerings.
I was particularly taken by his tale of ‘Nettie Moore’ as Mr Dylan, as he likes to be called, announced that he was ‘beginning to believe what the scriptures tell’. May I end these brief notes by echoing this sentiment as I look forward to meeting you all in the coming weeks as we gather in praise.
MP3 ~~Dolly Parton: The Grass Is Blue~~

Pavlovian response

2007-04-10T17:20:00.000Z

One of our parishioners has kindly sent these recordings of Pavlov's Dog live in Detroit, Michigan 1976. The sound quality is good. If there is a demand more may be posted. Saves on the trip to Greece and I may have to book them for the Summer Fete if they still sound this good.
MP3 Pavlov's Dog: Standing Here With You
MP3 Pavlov's Dog: She Came Shining

Pavlov's Dog - Barking Mad

2007-04-09T09:23:00.000Z

St Louis, Missouri must have been a strange place back in 1973; for it was here that six young men (no doubt from decent families) came together to form the eclectic madness that was Pavlov’s Dog. Built around the strangled falsetto gymnastics of singer David Surkamp and the eccentricities of violinist Siegfried Carver they decamped to the darkness of the studio and eventually emerged back into the light proudly clutching the master tapes of what would become their debut album.
At the time they were signed to ABC records who, after a quick listen to the tapes, decided that the Pavlov’s were as mad as a box of frogs and showed them the door. Fortunately for the unsuspecting record buying public CBS picked up their contract and ‘Pampered Menial’ duly hit the shops. The execs at ABC, worried that they might have missed a trick, promptly released the record as well making the Pavlov’s possibly the only band ever to have their debut album released simultaneously by two separate companies. It did them no good.
Pampered Menial is an inspired, original and unique album with more than enough melodic genius to make you forget its occasional lapses into pretentiousness. They followed this up, in 1974, with ‘At The Sound Of The Bell’ but by now Siegfried and his fiddle had gone taking with him a little of the magic. And that was it. Pavlov’s Dog’s star burned brightly for a mere two years. Sadly the world was looking the other way.
In 1977 they recorded a third album wistfully entitled ‘Has Anyone Seen Siegfried’ but this was never released and the tapes thought lost forever. Now the enterprising folk at Rockville Music have found them and are ready to unleash the album on an uncertain world. What’s more the band are gigging again and have dates lined up in Germany (a traditional hippie festival) and Greece. The Good Reverend feels a church outing coming on.

MP3 Pavlov's Dog: Late November

Rubber Sole

2007-04-06T08:02:00.000Z

In 1978 the Reverend Doctor was still a mere disciple following the latest wave of musical enthusiasm. The Sunday evening service on the 10th September 1978, held at the Royal Standard in Bradford, was spent in the company of visiting preachers from Manchester. Support act Emergency have long been forgotten, not so Joy Division who, having recently changed their name from Warsaw, attracted a healthy crowd of followers. West Yorkshire has a long tradition of reverential gatherings in the back parlour of ale houses and this was to prove one that would live long in the memory.

Almost a year to the day later many of that select few would be joining thousands more who had come to know this previously Unknown Pleasure as the band played the Futurama festival in nearby Leeds.
Artifacts celebrating the lives of those who have been held dear are commonplace but perhaps few are as bizarre as these trainers from New Balance. There are no plans to put them into production as yet. So watch eBay is my advice whilst keeping one eye on mammon.

The Greencards - Viridian (a kind of bluish-green)

2007-03-29T08:35:00.000Z

The third album from this two parts Australian one part English band is no play by numbers effort. Previous outings were heavily bluegrass in orientation and whilst their take on that most American of roots music is still to the fore they are steadily veering towards a more US radio-friendly country sound. This is most evident when Carol Young, bass and vocals, takes the lead. She has the kind of pure voice that fans of Alison Krauss will adore. The singing of Kym Warner and Brit Eamon McLoughlin retain the bluegrass edge, notably on ‘Who Knows’ co-written with ex-Lonesome River Band member Ronnie Bowman. It’s a slice of Kentucky heaven. Such collaborations repeatedly provide the finer moments including their most hardcore bluegrass moment ‘Lonesome Side Of Town’. The turkey in the woodpile has to be ‘When I Was In Love With You’. Loosely based on Housman’s poem 18 from ‘A Shropshire Lad’ and sang like an English folk song it grates as McLoughlin simply doesn’t have the vocal prowess to carry it off. Their collective musicianship is a real strength and the closer ‘Mucky The Duck’ features the classic bluegrass sound of fiddle and mandolin vying for their place in the spotlight. It’s a storming end to a smooth, easy on the ear, classy collection full of variety.
MP3 The Greencards: Who Knows

Slade Alive!

2007-03-25T12:18:00.000Z

‘Is this The Beatles’ my wife asked. ‘Yes’ thinking this the most diplomatic answer. ‘You don’t like The Beatles’ she stated. ‘No’ I said. Sometimes it’s just better not to get into the debate. Slade have been the bedrock of my musical tastes for four decades and to me they are The Fab Four. A re-mastered anthology has been long overdue and thankfully 'The Slade Box' a new four disc set does them justice. Instead of being another in the endless stream of greatest hits packages it chronicles their career from 1969 – 1991 commencing with a studio version of Steppenwolf’s ‘Born To Be Wild’ from the 'Beginnings' album. Later reprised to great effect on their breakthrough album ‘Slade Alive’. The early seventies are well represented along with a smattering of the better B-sides ‘Wonderin Y’, ‘Hot Club Tonite’ and ‘That’s Orl’. Disc 2 picks up the story with yet another stomper ‘When The Lights Are Out’ but it’s the reflective ‘How Does It Feel’ from arguably the best rock ‘n’ Roll movie ever ‘In Flame’ that steals the show. Written in 1968 the song didn’t fit the bands early style. It’s wistful lyrics and overblown production mark it as a neglected classic. With their career on the wane the Eighties commenced with a seminal performance at Reading that effectively resurrected them. Surprisingly there is nothing from this or their other live albums ‘Alive 2’ and ‘On Stage’. Admittedly these were not career highlights but as being on stage is their forte such omissions provide the collections weak point. Their output in the 80’s was less prolific and frankly poor compared to their heyday yet more from 1985’s bizarre Christmas party album ‘Crackers’ would have enlivened the final moments of a wonderful retrospective.
Also recently re-issued is ‘Nobody’s Fool’ recorded in America in the 1975 and full of, dare I say it, Beatles like harmonies

MP3 Slade: Far Far Away

The Avett Brothers (Plus ‘Nice Chap, Bob’)

2007-03-14T15:46:00.000Z

The latest, and best yet, from The Avett Bothers kicks off like a Gilbert & Sullivan nightmare song with an intense, sprawling, raucous, confusing explosion of sound. Its lack of amplification or a drummer doesn’t hold back brothers Scott, Seth and friend Bob from making ‘a right racket’ as my mother would have said. The influences stem from folk, bluegrass, punk and heavy metal all bashed together in a sing-a-long style.
It comes as no surprise that the 17 tracks from ‘Four Thieves Gone’ come from eleven days cooped up in the mountains of North Carolina. The sensation of claustrophobia exerts itself whether it’s lovelorn ballads like ‘Pretend Love’ or ’The Lowering’. Or the barnstorming thrash of ‘Colorshow’ which commences with what is surely their clarion call ‘Be loud/let your colours show’. Something they do with ease and lack of artifice. If these songs are truly autobiographical they have amassed a wealth of experience to which they bring a keen turn of phrase allied to a good hook. The pace falters as ‘The Fall’ and ‘Dancing Daze’ slip into a lazy groove before they rescue matters with their finest moment, ‘Famous Flower Of Manhattan’ tells the love story of country boy and city girl destined to find their differences too much to overcome. It’s the kind of song that guarantees the majors will come calling. I fear that would ruin their joyful noise.

MP3 The Avett Brothers: Famous Flower Of Manhattan

Guest Preacher

2007-03-05T15:50:00.000Z

Being unpredictable is almost a trademark for Rickie Lee Jones. From the jazz-lite hit ‘Chuck E’s In Love’, the trippy ‘Ghostyhead’, bare acoustics of ‘Naked Songs’ to the smoky standards of ‘Pop Pop’. None of which have retained an audience other than those for whom uncertainty is a forte. ‘Sermon’ is most definitely not an album to attract a fan base with. Originating from a spoken word project which took the words of Jesus, and not their surrounding biblical text, as a ragged starting point she has created a post-punk, stream of consciousness mash-up whose rawness is its very essence. Opener ‘Nobody Knows My Name’ shares a similarity with the Velvets as her characteristic wail cries of a desperate loneliness. The sparseness continues throughout with only brief snatches of a more soothing melodic approach. Examples being the quaint backing vocals to ‘Gethsemane’, which are at odds with its lyrical bleakness, and ‘Falling Up’ which retains a swing reminiscent of the pop mainstream. Only rarely do these moments deflect from a lo-fi approach that mars what is clearly a work of depth, albeit a confusing and at times incoherent one. Hiding within this confusion is either a work of idiosyncratic genius or a failed attempt to realise a concept that the artist has not fully thought through.

Way Out West

2007-02-22T09:48:00.000Z

Ever since 1980’s ‘Happy Woman Blues’ the arrival of a new Lucinda Williams album has been eagerly anticipated in my household. They have all been greeted with pleasure and varying degrees of satisfaction. Yet none have met with the uncertainty of ‘West’. Sure all the signature features are intact, thoughtful often profound lyrics, vocals invested with genuine emotion and instantly memorable tunes. So why am I hesitant to give this an unreserved thumbs-up? Is it Hal Wilner’s production which seems to further flatten a downbeat mood, or is it Williams’ examination of her pain which confuses. It opens with ‘Are You Alright?’ which starts and ends with a second party enquiry yet is surely a first person investigation. From then on in it is a dark night of the soul examination as the death of her mother and the loss of a close relationship fashion an unremitting hour of hurt. The mingling of anger arising from a broken heart and the grief of losing a loved one are the brew that makes ‘West’ the confusing album it is. On the one hand with lacerating bile she states ‘I would rather suffer in sweet silent solitude/Deathly defiant from drowning out/Filthy sounds stumbling ugly and crude/Between the lips of your beautiful mouth’. Then later opines ‘I can’t find my joy anywhere/All the magic vanished into the misty air’. Some degree of healing is evident in the closing title track, though whom she refers to when announcing ‘I’m counting up the days/’Til I see you again’ is unclear. Last years live shows, which post-date these recordings, saw her energetic and buoyant so I wouldn’t worry too much about her state of mind. But for a while it sounds like the answer to her opening question was a resounding ‘No’.

MP3 Lucinda Williams: 12 Words

The Reverend Doctor Goes Podcasting

2007-02-15T14:45:00.001Z

The first ever ONE LONELY HORN podcast. Cool sounds, rubbish voice over.

Track List:

Slade: Gudbye T' Jane
Bloc Party: The Once And Future King
Uncle Tupelo: Atomic Power
Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter: Station Grey
Sleep Station: My Last Desire
Robert Palmer: Which Of Us Is The Fool
The Waifs: Bridal Train
Tim Buckley: Morning Glory
Laura Veirs: Pink Light
Martha Scanlon: Get Right Church
Sharks: Kung Fu
The Hold Steady: Southtown Girls
The Distractions: (Stuck In A) Fantasy
Michelle Anthony: Ugly Side

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Blog On The Tyne

2007-02-12T10:36:00.000Z

The North-East of England has had its lean spells when it comes to live music. The demise of the Riverside club, quickly followed by The Mayfair, back in the 90’s brought a drought of sorts for many years. Salvation came with the opening of Newcastle Academy, preceded by The Sage. These venues, along with The Cluny have become the main stays of my social life which at the end of the month enters one of its busiest periods for many a long year.

In one of those cruel twists of musical programming The Killers, Maximo Park, Badly Drawn Boy and James Morrison all appear in Newcastle on the same night. Will I be attending any of these? Not a bit of it. These acts will all be back. Instead, leaping across the River Tyne, into Gateshead, The Sage welcomes Femi Kuti heading a stellar trio of African acts. No such decisions to make the following night as Bloc Party bring their somewhat disappointing new album to the Toon. Thank God it’s half-term as a lie in will be required before listening to Eddi Reader’s easy tones which have long been a household favourite. The working week draws to an end with Richmond Fontaine who may reveal the whereabouts of Ray Norton, or not. Travelling a few miles and changing rivers for the weekend The Wear flows through Durham where Seth Lakeman will confuse us all as to where his musical heart lays. Freedom Fields may mess with your head but it’s a great trip. After a well earned rest on the Sabbath the month draws to a conclusion with Amy Winehouse, Kaiser Chiefs and Joan Baez on consecutive nights. Phew, I’m getting too old for all this.

So whilst the region has again become a regular stopping off point the area still fails to deliver when it comes to its bands breaking through into national recognition. Maximo Park and the equally wonderful Field Music being the current indie exceptions. Sensitive songwriters fair a little better with Kathryn Williams being the most consistant but it’s the folk world where the real class is and non more so than Rachel Unthank. Thank goodness we’ve got someone other than Kathryn Tickell to talk about. This rich musical heritage is well represented on these must have albums :-

The Louvin Brothers - This Way Salvation Lies

2007-02-06T12:52:00.000Z

Many tunes have come a-knocking at the good Reverends door over the years seeking a friendly ear to entertain. And, like the good Christian I am, the door has been thrown open wide and they’ve walked right in. For some, the stay has been mercifully brief – I’m sure there is a place for thrash metal but, sadly, it’s not in my parlour. Other tunes have stayed for years, but have hidden themselves so deeply in the nooks and crannies of the old parsonage that I rarely see them. But, if a song has just the merest hint of a twang it instantly becomes a constant companion and a friend for life.
Explaining this passion for country music is not easy. The chic circles in which I move will just about acknowledge that the likes of, say John Fogerty, have a certain credence. A mention of Ryan Adams will produce an approving nod – but only because they think I'm talking about his brother Bryan. Any talk of George and Tammy however, or the mere whisper of the names Patsy or Loretta, leads to immediate social exclusion.
The two questions that the good Reverend is most frequently asked are: “Which way doth salvation lie?” and “Why country music?” The answer to the first question, of course, lies in the mysteries of the second. Click on the link below and listen to Charlie and Ira. Some people will hear two nasally voices singing trite sentimental lyrics to a depressing and outdated melody. These people, my friends, are condemned to a life of musical limbo where the latest Robbie Williams DVD is as good as it gets. True believers, in turn, will hear two glorious voices merged in thrilling harmony, singing lyrics that are simple, honest, moving and true, to a melody that is both graceful and uplifting. These people, my friends, are following the path to righteousness.

MP3 The Louvin Brothers: When I Stop Dreaming
MP3 Johnny Cash: When I Stop Dreaming
MP3 Uncle Tupelo: Atomic Power

Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter

2007-02-01T17:26:00.001Z

There seems to be a bit of a buzz developing around Seattle based Jesse Sykes at the moment. Certainly the tune below, taken from her upcoming album ‘Like Love Lust And The Open Halls Of The Soul’ has been running around my head for the last week. Like all good songs it reveals more with every listen.
Jesse and her Band – The Sweet Hereafter – featuring Phil Wandscher of Whiskeytown fame and, on bass, Anne Marie Ruljancich from The Walkabouts - take us on that lonely walk through the darker, melancholic streets of country rock. A route none of us should be afraid to follow.
Check out a stream of the new album here.

MP3 Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter: LLL

Alasdair Roberts – Callander Boy

2007-01-30T11:18:00.000Z

There are few performers like Alasdair Roberts who with each addition to their body of work can be seen as progressing rather than duplicating. That’s not to say he is improving, as his solo work to date has all been mightily impressive, more evolving as an artist of substance. After the traditional songs of ‘No Earthly Man’, which abounded with dour tragedy, ‘The Amber Gatherers’ sees a return to his own material which whilst being as strong lyrically as 2003’s ‘Farewell Sorrow’ displays a much lighter touch. This more positive outlook, when allied to his warm vocals, makes this a more open and accessible collection. Not that he has forsaken his leaning towards the dark side, just that he seems to draw back from plunging his characters into the pits of despair. ‘Let Me Lie And Bleed Awhile’ may suggest a fateful outcome but hides a tale of self-awareness jumbled up with hope. Elsewhere the devils work which ‘gilds the halls of Hell’ is thwarted as another seemingly lost soul escapes with his triumphant claim ‘I Have A Charm’. These tales sound centuries old. They have the strangeness of a different time, the mystery of a world we vaguely recognise but have not encountered. The musical accompaniment draws upon a more familiar folk tradition and is subtle, understated. Put together this makes for a challenging listening experience.

MP3 Alisdair Roberts: The Old Man Of The Shells

I've Been Looking In My Loft...

2007-01-25T15:58:00.000Z

Eventually I got round to moving the Christmas decorations from their temporary home at the top of the stairs into the loft. Struggling around in torchlight for an empty box into which Frosty The Snowman could hibernate for another year I managed to find a pile of 7 inch singles that I'd forgotten I owned.
Amongst them was this 1977 classic from The Desperate Bicycles. The Desperates whole raison d'etre was to write, record and release music as cheaply as possible, thereby cocking a snook at the fat cats at EMI and the like. They would happily admit they had little musical ability or talent - as this single ably demonstrates - but somehow that just didn't matter. The Desperates simple message was that if they could do it, anybody could.
The back cover of the sleeve featured a list of names headed by the message 'Now it's your turn'. Amongst those names was mine. I'm sure it must have been coincidence and that they were referring to another Reverend Doctor, but I took it as a sign from the musical gods and promptly formed my own band. Unlike the DB's we never released a single but we had a lot of fun along the way and, for that reason alone, I will be forever in their debt.
It was easy it was cheap go and do it!

MP3 The Desperate Bicycles: The Medium Was Tedium

Pull Shapes

2007-01-25T14:51:00.000Z

Shape Note singing is one of the most thrilling vocal experiences to participate in. Never intended as performance music it made its first appearance at Newport Folk Festival in the early 1960s. The link sends you to a thrilling performance by 40 singers at last years festival. Led by Tim Erikson (Cordelia’s Dad) they rattle their way through a glorious selection from The Sacred Harp. This tune book has been in continuous print since 1844 and is the main source of material for shape note ‘sings’. Standing in a square the four-part harmonies are sang inwards, usually without too much finesse. This isn’t a problem as Erikson once told me that being in tune is ‘merely a courtesy to the person standing next to you’. It’s that kind of attitude that welcomes all-comers wherever shape note is sung. The movie "Cold Mountain" drew new attention to this glorious noise and there is much to discover. Start you journey here.

Other great shape note recordings:-
Northampton Harmony ‘Hookes’ Regular Sing’

Wiregrass Sacred Harp Singers ‘The Colored Sacred Harp’ (New World Records)

Sacred Harp Singing (Rounder CD 1503)